[citation needed] In 1963 he graduated from Carleton College with a degree in chemistry.
Under the supervision of Jerome A. Berson, he received a PhD in 1966 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
From 1966 to 1967 he was a NATO postdoctoral fellow at Ronald Breslow's laboratory at Columbia University, New York City.
He developed methods for the representation of very reactive molecules, for example 1,3-diradicals and vinyl cations.
[3][4] This reaction later played a major role in understanding the mode of action of enediyne antitumor antibiotics.