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Madsen was born on August 2, 1917, in Glendale, Utah. She was educated in the Salt Lake City public school system and attended the University of Utah, receiving her Bachelor's degree in French in 1938. After teaching elementary school for a year, she married Brigham D. Madsen, with whom she co-authored a book and several articles on the Montana Trail. In 1961, after raising four children, Betty returned to school and renewed her elementary school teaching certificate, later teaching in both Logan and Salt Lake City. In 1972, she became the first thesis editor at the University of Utah, simultaneously working toward her own graduate degree. She also was assistant editor of Language in American Indian Education, a quarterly publication for teachers of English to speakers of Indian languages. Madsen received a Master's Degree in linguistics from the University of Utah in 1974. In 1979 she was named Utah's American Business Woman of the Year. She traveled to Kenya, Africa, as a member of the United Nations Peace Conference for Women in 1985. Betty Madsen died in Salt Lake City on June 9, 1997.