Dr. Larsen has spent her entire professional career focused on high quality education for students with disabilities. Her first jobs in education were teaching elementary, middle, and high school special education in Indiana and New York. She earned her master’s degree from Purdue University and her doctorate from the University of Maryland. After joining Brandman University (now UMass Global University) in 2004, Dr. Larsen established herself as a leader in the School of Education. She served as the lone full-time faculty for the Moreno Valley campus, was the first to teach a course in the hybrid method and served on numerous university committees. She was promoted to Associate Dean in 2010, Associate Professor in 2011, and Full Professor in 2017. She recently spent two years as a full-time consultant for the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

In the area of scholarship, Dr. Larsen has numerous conference presentations throughout her career as well as journal publications. She was co-author for the Copernicus Project, an $11.5 million dollar grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education. She has written several successful grants for support of district and university programs.

Dr. Larsen is also active in service to her community. She volunteered extensively with local school districts and served as coach and coordinator for the Odyssey of the Mind program, an international creativity competition. She and her husband mentored over 100 students in this program, as well as coaching four teams to the World Finals. She served as the California Odyssey of the Mind volunteer state director for 10 years, and recently developed Odyssey Inclusive, a program within Odyssey of the Mind specifically for students with disabilities. Dr. Larsen serves on Riverside Chamber of Commerce committees and was awarded Volunteer of the Year for 2024.