Perfit grew up on Long Island, New York where he got his love for the ocean that has continued today in his personal and professional life.  He attended St. Lawrence University in upstate New York where he graduated with a BS in Geology in 1971.  He first entered the graduate program at Lamont Doherty Geological Observatory/Columbia University as a student of Maurice Ewing and later, Bruce Heezen receiving an M. Phil. in Marine Geology in 1974. He continued to obtain a Ph.D. at Lamont/Columbia in Geochemistry in 1977 under the mentorship of Drs. Robert Kay and W. Ian Ridley.
