Manfred Schroeder studied mathematics and physics at the University of Göttingen in Germany. In his thesis he investigated the distribution of resonances in concert halls using microwave cavities as models. The chaotic distribution he found is now recognized as characteristic for complex (non-integrable) dynamical systems.

In 1954 Schroeder joined the research department of AT&T Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey. From 1958 to 1969 he directed research at Bell on speech compression, synthesis, and recognition. Since 1969 he has also served as a Professor of Physics at  Göttingen, commuting between the University and Bell. Since 1991 he has been University Professor Emeritus.

Schroeder is also a founding member of the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique of the Centre Pompidou in Paris. In the late 1950s he helped to formulate the U.S. standards for stereophonic broadcasting, now used worldwide. Schroeder holds 45 U.S. Patents in speech and signal processing and other fields.

Schroeder has written three books: Number Theory in Science and Communication; Fractals Chaos, Power Laws: Minutes from an Infinite Paradise; and Computer Speech: Recognition, Compression, Synthesis.

In 1991 Schroeder was awarded the Gold Medal of the Acoustical Society of America for "theoretical and practical contributions to human communication through innovative application of mathematics." He also received the Rayleigh Medal of the British Institute of Acoustics, the Helmholtz Medal of the German Acoustical Society, and the Gold Medal of the Audio Engineering Society.

Schroeder is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the New York Academy of Sciences. He is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering in Washington and the Göttingen Academy of Sciences.