Carol Ann Tomlinson is William Clay Parrish Jr. Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia's School of Education and Human Development, where she served as Chair of Educational Leadership, Foundations, and Policy and Co-Director of the University's Institutes on Academic Diversity. She spent 21 years in public education, teaching students in high school, preschool, and middle school and administering programs for struggling and advanced learners. She was Virginia's Teacher of the Year in 1974. In 2022, Tomlinson was ranked #12 in the Education Week Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings of the 200 "university-based academics who are contributing most substantially to public debates about schools and schooling," and as the #4 voice in Curriculum & Instruction.

Tomlinson is author of more than 300 books, book chapters, articles, and other educational materials, including How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms, The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, and So Each May Soar: The Principles and Practices of Learner-Centered Classroom. Her books on differentiation are available in 14 languages, and she continues to work throughout the United States and internationally with educators who seek to create classrooms that are effective in reaching diverse student populations.