He graduated with high honors in chemistry from Yale in 1892, and went on to study analytical methods of inorganic chemistry and rare earth elements  for two years in Germany at Ludwig-Maxamillian University of Munich. Afterwards, he returned to Yale and earned a PhD in 1897 and became an instructor in the Sheffield Scientific School there from 1896-1900. His teaching and research work at Yale focused on physical chemistry, despite it being a relatively new field. Lacking resources in English for teaching the subject, he translated two books from German, Alexander Classen, "Quantitative Analysis by Electrolysis," and the other by Charles Van Deventer, "Physical Chemistry for Beginners." He was particularly handy in the lab, often improving upon methods and devices. For example, he developed a low melting point wax that found use in labs across the country and was called, "Boltwax".
From 1900-1906, he had a private lab in New Haven, Connecticut.  He worked as a consulting chemist, analyzing ore samples for miners. This experience brought him into contact with the rare earth metals he had studied as well as uranium and thorium, elements that would become the crux of his greatest scientific contributions.