He received both his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.[4] He taught for a few years at Tulane University, before being appointed as professor of applied mathematics there in 1887. He was then driven north by tuberculosis. He founded the Colorado College Scientific Society and taught at Colorado College where he held, at different times, the chair in physics, the chair in mathematics, and the position Dean of the engineering department.[5] While in Colorado, he received his doctorate from Tulane in 1894.