Elof Axel Carlson (born 1931) was raised in Brooklyn, New York, and attended New York University for his B.A. degree. He went to Indiana University to study genetics with Nobelist H. J. Muller, completing his Ph.D. in 1958.

He then took a position as Lecturer at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and in 1960 accepted a position at UCLA where he sponsored six students for their Ph.D. degrees. In 1968, Carlson moved to Stony Brook University and in 1974 he was awarded the statewide title of Distinguished Teaching Professor. He retired from Stony Brook University in 2000 and moved to Bloomington, Indiana, where he is a Visiting Scholar in Indiana University's Institute for Advanced Study.