Dr. Behe graduated from Drexel University in 1974 with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry. He did his graduate studies in biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania and was awarded a Ph.D. in 1978 for his dissertation research on sickle-cell anemia. From 1978 to 1982 he did postdoctoral work on DNA structure at the National Institutes of Health. From 1982 to 1985 he was assistant professor of chemistry at Queens College in New York City, where he met his wife. In 1985 he moved to Lehigh University.
In addition to publishing more than 35 articles in refereed biochemical journals, Dr. Behe has written editorial features in the Boston Review, American Spectator, and New York Times. His book, Darwin's Black Box, discusses the implications for neo-Darwinism of what he calls "irreducibly complex" biochemical systems. In his writings, Behe does not contest Darwinian evolution for animals or plants; his claim is that evolution cannot explain a few subcellular structures.
Behe is a Roman Catholic, and believes in common descent. Prior to subscribing to Intelligent Design, Behe was an Evolutionary Creationist (theistic evolutionist).