Dorothy Tennov, Ph.D., was born in Montgomery County, Alabama, USA. She received her bachelors degree from Brooklyn College and her Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut. She was a professor of psychology at the University of Bridgeport for twenty years. In addition to being a professor of psychology she was also a student of the philosophy of science, and author of three published nonfiction books, including Love and Limerence, Psychotherapy: The Hazardous Cure, and Super Self: A woman's guide to self-management. Among her other writings were a prize-winning play about life in a nursing home, reviews of books on scientific subjects, presentations at scientific meetings, and essays. Her television credits included a PBS interview with the late French novelist and essayist, Simone de Beauvoir and appearance in a 1998 BBC documentary, The Evolution of Desire. She participated in Internet discussions on scientific and political topics while conducting research for a forthcoming book in which she planned more fully to analyze the methodologies and philosophies of the human sciences.

Tennov died in Harbeson, Delaware.