Mary Lou Avera has an extensive management background having worked in manufacturing management and labor relations negotiations. She also has worked in financial sales, as an accountant in industry, and as a consultant for state government.

She earned her Bachelor of Science in management from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Her Master of Business Administration is from Governor’s State University in Illinois. She has completed graduate courses in management and accounting from the University of Texas at Dallas. Mary Lou began teaching college in Illinois and Indiana while employed in industry. She has been a professor of management at Brookhaven College since 1979.