About Us
Founded as Graham Associates Consulting by Judith Graham, PhD, in 1985, Writing System Institute (WSI) is a woman-owned small business (WOSB) dedicated to writing training for professionals.
Using the copyrighted Writing System developed by Judith and her husband, Daniel (Dan) Graham, MBA, this family business has taught over 100,000 professionals how to write effectively and efficiently. They delivered customized courses for government, private, and nonprofit organizations, and they trained professionals one-on-one in personalized writing coaching sessions. They also wrote The Writing System textbook to provide these professionals with additional practice after a course or coaching session.
Judith and Dan were joined by their daughter Rachael Tin, PhD (formerly Rachael Lussos), who began delivering courses in 2016 and coauthored the third edition of The Writing System, released in 2020 with more than 50% new material.
Madeline Shaughnessy, MA, joined the family business in 2023, which was a year of record-setting growth for both revenue and client accounts. Shortly after, Judith and Dan entered their well-earned retirements.
In 2025, Rachael and Madeline launched open enrollment courses for individuals and a new name to reflect what has always been the heart of the business: helping professionals learn a system to write better, faster, and more confidently.
We look forward to continuing this mission through
-
the courses we deliver in person and online to groups and individuals;
-
one-on-one writing coaching for professionals and a new industry of preprofessionals;
-
writing and editing consulting services for organizations who need help producing important documents now; and even
-
research on writing and editing processes, so we can add to our arsenal of evidence-based advice with data of our own.
Instructor Profiles
Rachael Tin, PhD
Principal
Rachael joined WSI (formerly Graham Associates) in 2016 as a writer, editor, and instructor for writing and editing courses. She develops and delivers courses on systematic writing and effective language use, designs writing training programs, provides one-on-one writing coaching, and provides writing and editing services for government and private sector organizations in health, technology, and education. She also teaches the requisite writing course for the American University Key Executive Programs MPA. Her research in professional writing and health rhetoric appears in peer-reviewed journals such as Technical Communication Quarterly, Computers and Composition, and Journal of Technical Writing and Communication.
Judith H. Graham, PhD
Judith founded Graham Associates in 1985 (renamed WSI in 2025) to provide quality writing consulting and training for engineers, scientists, and business professionals. She developed WSI's copyrighted Writing System to produce effective documents efficiently.
Madeline Shaughnessy, MA
Principal
Madeline joined WSI (formerly Graham Associates) in 2023 as a writing instructor and coach. In her instruction, she draws from 8 years' experience as a writer and editor for health and technology organizations. A trained writing coach, she has also helped over 1,000 professionals and students improve their writing habits and documents. Madeline conducts award-winning research on the value of grammar knowledge for professionals. She has a Master's degree in Professional Writing from George Mason University.
Daniel Graham, MBA
As a principal in WSI (formerly Graham Associates), Daniel provided training and consulting about writing efficiency and quality to corporations and government agencies. He is published in journals and is an award-winning novelist with five titles. He owns and manages Preview Press.