Linder received his Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia in 1982, then went on to receive his master of architecture degree and master of environmental design degree (MED) from Yale University in 1986. Linder also received a PhD in architecture from Princeton University in 1998. At Syracuse, Linder teaches architectural design and theory in addition to his own practice, CLear, based in Syracuse, New York. Linder has also written numerous publications, and his most recent book, published in 2004, is called Nothing Less Than Literal: Architecture After Minimalism, examines how minimalist art was infiltrated by architecture in the 1960s by presenting a history of the exchanges of formalist concepts and techniques that resulted in a reconfiguration of two disciplines.