Professor Trahey received a B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He served in the Peace Corps in Grenada and Dominica and was employed at ECRI in Plymouth Meeting before earning his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Duke University in 1985. He has been a Professor at Duke ever since with his research efforts focused on ultrasonic imaging methods.