Elizabeth Goldring Piene was born in Forest City, Iowa. She grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska and during her father's sabbatical years she lived with her family in Rome and Mexico City. She received her B.A. cum laude from Smith College and a master's degree from Harvard University. Although visually challenged, she continues to work as a poet, writer, media artist and inventor. At the Center for Advanced Visual Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1975-2013), she held positions as research fellow, senior fellow, acting co-director, exhibits and projects director, and lecturer. While at MIT, she invented seeing machines and created a visual language, retina prints and video documentation addressing conditions of blindness. Goldring has authored five books of poetry and Centerbook: The Center for Advanced Visual Studies and the Evolution of Art, Science, Technology at MIT, a history of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies, as well as several articles and exhibition catalogues. Her poems have appeared in several anthologies and journals including Asylum, Prairie Schooner and New Letters. She has given readings and performances in the United States and Europe. Corona Diaries 1 and 2 were performed with flutist David Whiteside for Silo Solos at the online Frankfurt Book Fairs during the pandemic (2020, 2021). In 2004, she was awarded the Smith College Medal and in 2006, she received "Best and Brightest" Awards from MIT Technology Review, Esquire, and Scientific American. She lives and works in Groton, Massachusetts. She also maintains a residence in Boston. Goldring was married to the artist Otto Piene, who died in Berlin in 2014.