In 1966, he obtained a B.A. in philosophy from Brooklyn College. In 1972, he obtained a Ph.D. in philosophy from Claremont Graduate School. In 1967, while still a graduate student, Bodhi was ordained as a novice in the Vietnamese Mahayana order. In 1972, after graduation, Bodhi traveled to Sri Lanka where, under Ven. Ananda Maitreya, he received novice ordination and, in 1973, he received full ordination in a Theravada Order. In 1984, succeeding co-founder Ven. Nyanaponika Thera, Bodhi was appointed as an English-language editor of the Buddhist Publication Society (BPS, Sri Lanka) and, in 1988, he became its president. In 2002, he retired from the society's editorship while still remaining as its president.