He received the Phi Alpha Delta International Legal Fraternity scholarship and won American Jurisprudence Awards, including one for Criminal Procedure, which has since been an area of his concentration.
He attended graduate school at the University of Virginia, earning a Master of Arts in public administration in 1981 and a Ph.D. in government in 2003, studying under Henry J. Abraham and David M. O'Brien.
His doctoral dissertation focused on discerning the ideological views of judges based on their voting patterns, a theme that would continue throughout his later scholarship.
From 1970 to 1973, Bonventre served in the United States Army, earning a commission from Officers Candidate School at Fort Benning.
After earning law school, Bonventre returned to the Army in 1977 as criminal trial counsel in the Judge Advocate General's Corps.
Bonventre has also taught as a visiting professor at the Syracuse University College of Law and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.