he was the son of daniel rutledge vining (1908-1999), who was economics professor at the university of arkansas, fayetteville, and the university of virginia, charlottesville. vining received his b.a. degree from yale university in 1966, his m.p.a. from the woodrow wilson school of public and international affairs at princeton university in 1971, and his ph.d. from the carnegie mellon university school of urban and public affairs in 1975. in 1974, he was named a lecturer in the regional science department at the university of pennsylvania, where he became an assistant professor in 1975 and a tenured associate professor in 1980. in 1981, he was named an associate professor of public and urban policy for three years retroactive to july 1, 1980. he remained an associate professor at the university of pennsylvania until 1993, and became an emeritus professor there in 2010.