He attended the University of Alaska , and then received a B.S. at the California Institute of Technology at Pasadena , California in the 1920s , where he was the college roommate of L. Sprague de Camp .
He attended the University of Alaska , and then the California Institute of Technology at Pasadena , California from 1927 - 1930 , graduating with a B.S. in Physical Chemistry . 
 During his last two years at Cal Tech he was the college roommate of L. Sprague de Camp .