鲁道夫·马库斯在采访开始时谈到了他的家庭背景和早期教育。虽然他早年在密歇根州的底特律度过，但他主要是在加拿大蒙特利尔的一个犹太人社区长大的。马库斯的父母和叔叔们鼓励他继续读书。为了给上大学攒钱，他上了十二年级，相当于大学的第一年。马库斯随后就读于麦吉尔大学，主修化学。1943年，他获得理学学士学位。由于战争，他可以在一个夏天的课程上他的第四年。马库斯也直接去了麦吉尔大学的研究生院，和卡尔·温克勒一起学习物理化学。他的研究RDX是由战争需要决定的，并于1946年获得博士学位。他还与爱德华·w·r·斯泰西(Edward W. R. Steacie)一起在加拿大国家研究委员会(National Research Council of Canada)进行了两年半的博士后研究。 In 1949, Marcus moved to the University of North Carolina, accepting a position with Oscar Rice, who had received an Office of Naval Research contract. It was there that Marcus began to focus on theory, particularly unimolecular and transition state theory. The result of this work was the development of the RRKM theory. In 1951, Marcus moved again, this time to Brooklyn Polytechnic University, where he became an assistant professor in the chemistry department. Marcus discusses his colleagues, including Herman Mark, Herbert Morawetz, and Charles Overberger, as well as the atmosphere of the institution. He became interested in electrostatics and polyelectrolytes. He also began some polymer research, and pursued work on electron transfer. In 1964, Marcus left Brooklyn Polytechnic for the University of Illinois. During his time there, he spent a few semesters at Oxford University as a visiting professor. In 1978, Marcus accepted a position at Caltech, where he began collaborating with Ahmed Zewail. His desire to pursue his research led him to decline administrative work. At Caltech, Marcus continued his electron transfer research. He concludes the interview with a discussion of his family, the challenges of research, and thoughts on his electron transfer work.