Charles Paul Conn acquired his undergraduate degree in religion from Lee University (then Lee College). He received an M.A. and a Ph.D. in psychology from Emory University and subsequently went on to spend three years at Harvard University as a postdoctoral Visiting Scholar. Conn served on the Lee College psychology faculty for 15 or so years before becoming the president of Lee University in 1986. In addition to his work at Lee University, Conn also has a second career as a free-lance writer. He has authored or co-authored 20 popular books and his magazine articles have appeared in numerous national publications as varied as Saturday Evening Post, Eternity, and the Journal of Experimental Psychology. An interview with Johnny Cash, written for a Tennessee newspaper in 1972, was named by the Associated Press as the Best News Feature of the Year.