Vinokur earned his BSc in physics of metals at Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys in 1972 and moved to the Institute of Solid State Physics, Chernogolovka, Russia, where he received a Ph.D. in physics in 1979. He has held appointments as a visiting scientist at CNRS, Grenoble (1987), a visiting scientist at Leiden University (1989), a visiting scientist at ETH (Zurich) (1990), and as visiting director of research at Ecole Normale Superieure (Paris) (1996). Since 1990 till January 2021 Vinokur has worked at the Argonne National Laboratory, having become a Distinguished Argonne Fellow in 2009. Since 2018 till January 2021, he has been a senior scientist at the Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, Office of Research and National Laboratories, The University of Chicago. Since January 2021 Vinokur has been working for Terra Quantum AG as a Chief Technology Officer US. Since January 2021 Vinokur also has been an adjunct professor at City College of the City University of New York.