Mehrabian graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1960 and holds bachelor's and Doctor of Science degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
His academic career spanned almost thirty years, starting at MIT in 1968 and concluding as president of Carnegie Mellon University.
As director of the Center for Materials Science of the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology, he initiated numerous government/industry programs that became models for such cooperative efforts.
An internationally recognized authority on advanced technologies[citation needed], Mehrabian also served as a senior advisor in manufacturing and high-technology processes to many Fortune 500 companies.[who?]
He was also elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering 1984 for significant and timely advances in the rapid solidification of alloy systems and the novel casting of liquid-solid mixtures.