Yergin was born on February 6, 1947[19] in Los Angeles, California.[20] His father Irving Yergin worked at Warner Brothers and was editor of The Hollywood Reporter and a former journalist in Chicago, while his mother Naomi Yergin was a sculptor and painter.[21] Yergin is Jewish.[22] He attended Beverly Hills High School.[21][20] He received his BA from Yale University[5][6] in 1968,[24][19] where he wrote for the Yale Daily News and was founder of The New Journal[8] in 1967.[24] He received his M.A. in 1970[19] and his PhD in international history from Cambridge University, where he was a Marshall Scholar.[24][23][9] While at Cambridge, he wrote for various British magazines as well as The Atlantic,[4] where he was a contributing editor,[25] and The New York Times Magazine.[4] He has honorary doctorates from Dartmouth College,[26] Colorado School of Mines,[27] University of Houston, and the University of Missouri.[28]