 Paz-Pujalt was born August 9, 1954 in Arequipa, Peru, and graduated from San Andrés (Colegio), an Anglo Peruvian college preparatory school in Lima, Peru.He graduated with honors and received the Miller Prize for accomplishments in English.Paz-Pujalt did his undergraduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and completed his Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.