Elman earned his B.A. from
Hamilton College in 1968. He was in the
Peace Corps in Thailand, 1968 - 71 serving as provincial zone office and field supervisor for the Thailand National Malaria Eradication Project in Nakhon Sawan, Uthaitani, Chainat, Kamphaengphet, and Tak provinces along Burmese border. The Peace Corps provided instruction in Thai language and in epidemiological procedures. Upon leaving the Peace Corps, he was with the New York State Department of Public Health, 1972. Elman earned a
Master's Degree from
American University, Washington in 1972 - 73. Enrolled in M.A. Program in Area Studies: Modern China. He studied in
Taipei,
Taiwan through the Inter-University Center for Chinese, in the academic year 1973–74, then the Inter-University Center for Japanese, Tokyo, Japan 1977–78. He received his Ph.D. in Oriental Studies from the
University of Pennsylvania (1980), studying with
Nathan Sivin and
Susan Naquin. He was Ziskind Lecturer, a short term position, in East Asia Studies at
Colby College, Waterville, Maine, 1980–82; University of Michigan, Center for Chinese Studies, 1984– 85; Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Rice University, Houston, Texas, 1985–86. From 1986-2002 he was Associate Professor and full Professor,
University of California, Los Angeles. From 1999 to 2001 he was the Mellon Visiting Professor in Traditional Chinese Civilization at the
Institute for Advanced Study. He joined the Princeton faculty in 2002. In 2011 he delivered the
Edwin O. Reischauer Lectures at Harvard. ==Major publications and research interests==