Edward Louis Ullman was trained as a geographer at University of Chicago where he was influenced by the urban and economic emphasis in social science. His study and dissertation on the economic aspects of Mobile, Alabama began a career of transit studies. He was the Office of Strategic Services transportation specialist in World War II. After the war he served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy Reserve and was an economist for the United States Maritime Commission. He also did research for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon and the State Department. In 1951 he began his academic work at the Department of Geography, University of Washington and was a Fulbright research professor at the Sapienza University of Rome in 1956-1957. He did academic work in Germany and Israel. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Amtrak utilized his services in their formative years.