Elizabeth Sayrs received her  B.A. in Music from Wellesley, where she graduated as the Katharine Malone Scholar.  She completed her M.A. in Music Theory at the Eastman School of Music as a Sproull Fellow, and earned the Ph.D. in Music Theory from Ohio State, completing her dissertation with the assistance of a Presidential Dissertation Fellowship. Sayrs has presented her work on 19th-century music, mathematical models of music, and gender studies and music at numerous regional and national conferences.  In addition, articles and reviews have been published or are forthcoming in College Music Symposium, Music Theory Online, and Music Theory Spectrum.

Prior to her appointment to the Ohio University faculty, Dr. Sayrs served on the faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara; Valparaiso University; The Ohio State University; and the University of Saskatchewan, where she was awarded the Dwaine Nelson Teaching Award.