Complex sentence: Like many veterans of his generation, he went to graduate school on the G.I. Bill and, in 1951, received a Ph.D. degree in anthropology from Columbia University, where he was greatly influenced by the antiracism writing of Franz Boaz.
Split into simpler sentences: Like many veterans of his generation, he went to graduate school on the G.I. Bill. And, in 1951, received a Ph.D. degree in anthropology from Columbia University, where he was greatly influenced by the anti-racism writing of Franz Boaz.