 In Mexico, Boder learned to speak Spanish, taught psychology at the National University, and married his third wife Dora in 1925 with whom he moved to the United States soon after.Upon moving to the U.S., Boder obtained degrees from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, while also working at the Lewis Institute (which became Illinois Institute of Technology).Upon the end of World War II, Boder conceived of a project for interviewing displaced persons of the war, to preserve their stories and investigate the psychological effects of war.