Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1941, Darensbourg obtained a Bachelor of Surgery from California State University in 1964, followed by a Doctor of Philosophy from University of Illinois at Urbana in 1968 under the guidance of Theodore L. Brown.
He is a distinguished professor of chemistry at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University. Darensbourg started work as a research chemist at Texaco Research Center in 1968. In 1969, he was appointed assistant professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
In 1982, Donald Darensbourg moved to Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University with Marcetta Y. Darensbourg.
He was awarded the title of Distinguished Professor in 2010. Darensbourg"s research interest includes using carbon dioxide as monomer and solvent in the production of biodegradable copolymers.
