tlarson@tdlc.com
Career
Professional
In 1984, my father asked me to join him in
starting a new business, Larson Texts, which was incorporated in 1992. My
professional career started and continues to be with Larson Texts.
1998 Senior Vice President, TDLC Division Manager
1996 Senior Vice President, Research & Development
- Developed TDLC, a Division of Larson Texts, Inc.
- Developed sales force for Meridian Creative Group products.
1992 Vice President, Research & Development
- Co-developed Meridian Creative Group, a Division of Larson Texts, Inc.
- Designed and developed Interactive Calculus 1.0, the first fully
interactive multimedia textbook.
- Designed Real-Life Interactive Math Investigations for middle & high
school.
- Co-designed Rookie Reporter, a multimedia language arts program for
middle school.
- Designed and co-developed the Rookie Layout Editor.
1987 Software Engineer
- Designed and developed one of the first graphical hypertext markup
language systems for the PC.
- Designed, developed, and co-wrote a number of graphical computer
mathematics tutorials using the system developed above.
- Designed and developed publication-quality 4-color typesetting
capability in TeX.
1984 Computer Graphics Programmer/Technical Artist
- Designed, developed, and used mathematical visualization software for
camera-ready publication.
Meridian Creative Group designs, develops, and produces print and
multimedia products for educational publishers. Meridian has worked with
over a dozen publishers on more than 300 projects, including 70 interactive
multimedia projects, 15 interactive multimedia textbooks, and Internet
Calculus, the first interactive multimedia textbook offered completely over
the Internet. Meridian also publishes a number of the works it has developed.
TDLC is a value-added Internet service provider for the educational
publishing community. TDLC is open to all educational publishers who offer
Internet-based products for sale. The service operates on a unique business
model that requires no monthly fees to be paid and is open to third-party
developers.
Pre-professional
I have worked in and out of our family businesses since I was 12 years old.
I have been a custom quilter's assistant, yacht crewman, furniture mover, butcher,
short-order cook, cashier, bank teller, hotel night auditor, and copy editor. Every job
I have had has ultimately proven useful in my professional life.
Education
I explored several majors in school including pre-medicine, sociology,
professional writing, and computer science, before embracing my true love---
mathematics. In 1987 I was awarded the B.S. in Mathematics with Computer
Science Option from The Pennsylvania State University, in Erie, PA.
Publications
1999 |
Developing a Participatory Textbook for the Internet,
Proceedings of 1999 Frontiers in Education Conference,
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Piscataway, NJ,
Session 13b7-1 |
Paper |
1997 |
Tad's Sock, Meridian Creative Group, Erie, PA |
Children's Book |
1997 |
Spies in Frog Hollow, Meridian Creative Group, Erie, PA |
Children's Book |
1997 |
Lily's Fish Tale, Meridian Creative Group, Erie, PA |
Children's Book |
1994 |
Making an Interactive Calculus Textbook, Proceedings of Interactive
Multimedia '94, Society for Applied Learning Technology, Warrenton,
VA, pp 56-59 |
Paper |
1992 |
Elementary Algebra Tutor, D. C. Heath & Company, Lexington, MA (2/e: 1996, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA) |
Software |
1992 |
Intermediate Algebra Tutor, D. C. Heath & Company (2/e: 1996, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA) |
Software |
1992 |
College Algebra Concepts & Models Tutor, D. C. Heath & Company (2/e: 1996, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA) |
Software |
1991 |
Finite Mathematics Tutor, D. C. Heath & Company |
Software |
1991 |
Brief Calculus Tutor, D. C. Heath & Company |
Software |
1989 |
Precalculus Tutor, D. C. Heath & Company (2/e: 1993; 3/e: 1997, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA) |
Software |
1989 |
Trigonometry Tutor, D. C. Heath & Company (2/e: 1993; 3/e: 1997, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA) |
Software |
1989 |
Algebra & Trigonometry Tutor, D. C. Heath & Company (2/e: 1993; 3/e: 1997, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA) |
Software |
1989 |
College Algebra Tutor, D. C. Heath & Company (2/e: 1993; 3/e: 1997, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA) |
Software |
1988 |
Student Solutions Guide to Accompany Elementary Linear Algebra, D. C. Heath & Company (2/e: 1991) |
Book |
Presentations
1999 |
Developing a Participatory Textbook for the Internet,
1999 Frontiers in Education Conference,
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
San Juan, PR. |
1998 |
The Value of Internet Publishing, 11th Annual Convention,
Text and Academic Authors Association, St. Petersburg, FL. |
1997 |
The Graphics of Calculus (And Jurassic Park), The 10th Annual
International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics, Chicago, IL. |
1996 |
CD-ROMs for Instructional Purposes, 9th Annual Convention, Text and
Academic Authors Association, Chicago, IL. |
1995 |
The Magic of Programmer/Author Interaction, 8th Annual Convention,
Text and Academic Authors Association, Savannah, GA. |
1995 |
Educational Software: CD-ROMs for Profit, 8th Annual Convention, Text
and Academic Authors Association, Savannah, GA. |
1994 |
Making an Interactive Calculus Textbook, Interactive Multimedia '94,
Society for Applied Learning Technology, Washington, DC. |
Associations
1988-Present |
Association for Computing Machinery, Voting Member |
1990-Present |
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer
Society, Affiliate |
1991-Present |
Text and Academic Authors Association |
Expertise
Subject Areas
- Interactive Multimedia Design
- Interactive Multimedia Development
- Educational Technology
- Publishing
Computer Languages
Current |
C, C++, HTML, Java, JavaScript |
Recent |
BASIC, Pascal, Modula-2, OpenScript, Postscript, TEX, Tutor Markup, DOS Batch |
Past |
FORTRAN, COBOL, Z80 Assembler |
Learning |
Perl |
Computer Systems
Current |
Windows 95/98, Windows NT |
Recent |
MS-DOS, Windows 3x, Macintosh |
Past |
CP/M |
Learning |
Linux |
Interests
- Intelligence & Emotion, Cognitive Theory
- Wearable Computing, Ubiquitous Computing
- Technology in Society
- Data Structures & Algorithms
- Programming Languages
- Computer Graphics
Personal
I was born in Vancouver, WA (across the river from Portland, OR) to Roland
E. Larson and Deanna S. Larson, 1962. When I was born, my dad was a custom
quilter, but he decided to start college that Fall. This marked a profound
change in his life, since he was the first of his family to earn a college
degree. He continued on to get his PhD in 1970 and subsequently became a
Professor at Penn State, so I often say that I was raised on college
campuses. Both my mother and my father have always worked, passing along a
valuable lesson in the ethics of work and education.
In 1983, my life changed profoundly when Mary Ann Grant joined me in
marriage. That union remains at the center of my life. We have two
daughters, my pride and joy, Caitlin Deanna and Carly Joanne. Our son died
at birth, but is remembered by my name. At the age of 34, we moved into the
17th place I have lived, our beautiful farm home in Harborcreek, PA. A
number of animals also share the farm with us.
In 1998, I visited Tennesee, the only mainland state I had not previously
visited. I love to travel, and have also visited Mexico, British Columbia,
Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, Denmark,
the Bahamas, and the Virgin Islands. There's little of the world that I don't hope
to see.
My interests have ranged far and wide, but I have always loved science,
mathematics, books, music, and art. Softball, cooking, and movies have
remained long-term hobbies, though I also love sailing and have been
fascinated by models of all kinds. I read most anything, but tend to read
more science fiction and fantasy, as well as spiritual and philosophical
non-fiction.
My interest in education and my desire to change it predates my memory. My
parents often recall my desire to "improve the system" even in kindergarten.
Education and knowledge lie at the center of society, and play a large part
in controlling the destiny of our world. I have devoted my life to
understanding and positively impacting post-industrial society by making
education better and more widely available.
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