Isaac Abella was born on June 20, 1934, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Abella received his Bachelor of Arts degree (1957) from the University of Toronto, Master of Arts (1959) degree, and Ph.D. (1963) in Physics from Columbia University in New York. He studied under Charles H. Townes and was involved in the early research work of laser development. Notably, Abella's thesis under Townes was among the earliest work on two-photon absorption.