Mary Lou Conlin completed her education at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, earning a B.A. and M.A. in English, and a Ph.D. in education with concentrations in special education, reading, and curriculum. Conlin worked for over twenty-five years teaching English Composition and developing curriculum for developmental reading and writing at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio. She developed individualized reading and writing instruction, and also established a Learning Center staffed with instructional assistants and tutors who provided both individual and small group instruction. In addition, Conlin developed computer-assisted instruction and tracking in the early 1980s.Her publications include PATTERNS, PATTERNS PLUS, CONCEPTS OF COMMUNICATION: WRITING, and CONCEPTS OF COMMUNICATION: READING. The Concepts texts, a modular series, became the basis for the individualized program provided through the Learning Center. Other publications include SIMON PERKINS OF THE WESTERN RESERVE, a biography of an early land agent of the Western Reserve published by the Western Reserve Historical Society.
