Charles Van Doren was born in New York City, the elder son of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, critic and teacher Mark Van Doren and novelist  Dorothy Van Doren (née Graffe), and a nephew of critic and Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Carl Van Doren.
He graduated from the High School of Music & Art in New York, and earned a B.A. degree in Liberal Arts (1946) from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, as well as an M.A. in astrophysics (1949) and a Ph.D. in English (1955), both at Columbia University.
He was also a student at University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
Charles Van Doren was born in New York City, the elder son of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, critic and teacher Mark Van Doren and novelist  Dorothy Van Doren (née Graffe), and a nephew of critic and Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Carl Van Doren. He graduated from the High School of Music & Art in New York, and earned a B.A. degree in Liberal Arts (1946) from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, as well as an M.A. in astrophysics (1949) and a Ph.D. in English (1955), both at Columbia University. He was also a student at University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
Charles Van Doren