Mander completed a BSc degree at the University of Auckland, New Zealand in 1960, followed by an MSc degree in 1961 from the same institution.
He then moved to Australia in 1962 to undertake a PhD degree at the University of Sydney before committing to an initial postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan. Mander then moved to Caltech in 1965 (after his PhD had been conferred) for an additional two years.