Ka cika wannan magana: An haifi Alva C. Ellisor a ranar 26 ga Afrilu, 1892 a Galveston, Texas. A lokacin da take 'yar shekara takwas, ta tsira daga
Babban Guguwar Galveston ta 1900. Tana da 'yan uwanta biyu da aka kashe a wannan taron. Kasancewar ita ce mafi kyawun aji, daga baya, a cikin 1915, ta kammala karatun digiri a matsayin ɗaliban girmamawa a Geology daga Jami'ar Texas, kuma tana ɗaya daga cikin mata biyu da suka kammala karatu a fagen ta. Bayan kammala karatunsa, Ellisor ya rike matsayin malami a Makarantar Sakandaren Ball. Wannan ya kasance na ɗan gajeren lokaci yayin da ta yanke shawarar komawa jami'a da karatu da fatan zama farfesa. A lokaci guda Ellisor tana karatu, tana kuma yin bincike a fagen ilimin ƙasa a ƙarƙashin kulawar malamanta, Farfesa Francis L. Whitney da Farfesa Hal P. Bybee. Daya daga cikin takardun bincike na farko da aka buga ba da daɗewa ba bayan haka, a cikin 1918, wanda ya ƙunshi abubuwan da aka gano na burbushin halittu da yawa. Wadannan burbushin burbushin sun hada da Handbook of Texas Cretaceous Fossils, ta hanyar W.S. Adkin (1928). A wannan shekarar, Ellisor ya fara aiki a matsayin farfesa a Jami'ar Kansas koyar da ilimin geology kuma a 1919 ya sami damar amfani da kwarewarta yayin aiki a Kansas Geological Survey.