 Schlesinger studied chemistry at the University of Chicago from 1900 till 1905, where he received his Ph.D. for work with Julius Stieglitz.In the following two years, he worked with Walther Nernst at the University of Berlin; with Johannes Thiele at the University of Strasbourg; and with John Jacob Abel at Johns Hopkins University.From 1907 to 1960, he taught at the University of Chicago.