[2] Her research interests were primarily in applied mathematics, and in particular in inverse problems.
McLaughlin did her undergraduate studies at Kansas State University.
After earning a master's degree from the University of Maryland, she moved to the University of California, Riverside for her doctoral studies, earning a Ph.D. in 1968 under the supervision of Joaquin Basilio Diaz.
[2] She was chair of the board of trustees of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics from 1996 to 1998.
[2] McLaughlin was an invited lecturer at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 1994.