Timothy R. Larson

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

Presentations

Associations

Expertise

Subject Areas

• Interactive Multimedia Design
• Interactive Multimedia Development
• Educational Technology
• Publishing

Computer Languages

Computer Systems

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.