He received his B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics at the University of Houston in December 1975, and his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Houston in May 1980. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin (1980-1983) under the tutelage of Dr. Peter J. Rossky and then at Harvard University (1983-1985) under the tutelage of Nobel Laureate, Dr. Martin Karplus.