The economic challenges of Thayer's early life impacted his sensitivity to the struggle of others later in his career.
[1] He attended Carroll Academy, and then moved to the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in philosophy.
While pursuing his degrees, Thayer worked to support himself through employment first as an attendant at a sanitarium, then in a restaurant, and later waiting tables in a boarding house.
He served in editorial positions for the American Review and the Journal of Educational Research.
Thayer was named a Kappa Delta Pi Laureate, Pioneer Humanist of the Year (1964) by the American Humanist Association, and in 1969 received the Distinguished Lifetime Service to Education award from The John Dewey Society.