Thomas J. Conners was born in New Jersey, USA and earned his bachelor's degree in linguistics from Yale University, writing about the syntax of Old Icelandic. He continued his studies in linguistics, earning two master's degrees from Yale, working on Indonesian syntax and Indonesian morpho-phonology. In 2003-04, he conducted extensive fieldwork on the Tengger dialect of Javanese, while on a Fulbright Scholarship. He is now completing his doctoral dissertation on the history and syntax of Tengger Javanese.

Interested in Javanese dialectology in general, he is also conducting research on the dialects of Pemalang, Tegal, Banyumas, and Osing (Banyuwangi), focusing primarily on syntax and the historical development and relationships among Javanese dialects.

Other research interests include: Austronesian, Indonesian, Javanese linguistics; syntax, historical linguistics; field linguistics; language death, language contact.