Kochi earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of California at Los Angeles and a doctorate from Iowa State University. He was named the Earl Blough Professor of Chemistry at Indiana University, and before he joined the department of Chemistry at University of Houston, he was on faculty at what was then Case University, worked as a chemist at Shell Development Co., and was a fellow at Cambridge University and an instructor at Harvard University.
Well known as a prolific researcher with a distinguished career, Kochi continued to publish and operate a lab until his death in 2008. Among his many honors were his membership in the prestigious National Academy of Sciences and the James Flack Norris Award in physical organic chemistry for his outstanding research contributions.