After receiving his Ph.D. in Physics from Stanford University, Jeff Rabin did research in theoretical particle physics at Yale University (1981-83) and the University of Chicago (1983-87) prior to moving to UCSD. He contributed to the development of the theory of super Riemann surfaces and their applications in perturbative string theory. Rabin is a mathematical physicist specializing in supermanifolds and their applications. This includes super Riemann surfaces, the algebraic geometry of supercurves and supervarieties, and supersymmetric integrable systems.

In 1998 he helped design the Algebraic Thinking Institute (ATI) at UCSD, an intensive summer professional development institute for high school algebra teachers. He was co-director of ATI in 1999, 2000, and 2003. He is on the faculty of MSED, the joint Ph.D. program in Mathematics and Science Education of UCSD and SDSU.