 He was brother to George Dupont Pratt, Herbert L. Pratt, John Teele Pratt, Harold I. Pratt, and their sister; his older half-brother was Charles Millard Pratt.After attending private schools, Pratt graduated from Amherst College in 1887.In 1893, he was elected president of the board of Pratt Institute, taking over from his elder brother, Charles Millard Pratt.