Larry MacPhee
Brief Biography
Larry MacPhee started his professional career as an evolutionary biologist. He has helped to reestablish east coast bald eagle populations, researched the loss of body armor in stickleback fishes, studied aging in fruit flies, and sex-switching in endangered Hawaiian plants. He was named a 1996 Access Excellence Fellow by the Biotech pioneer, Genentech. He has worked as a technology mentor and high school Biology teacher in Southern California, and as a technology instructor and computer support specialist for the University of California, Irvine's Department of Education. Since moving to Flagstaff, Arizona, Larry has taught classes for the NAU Biology Department, College of Education, and Liberal Studies Program. For the Science Learning Center, he has led workshops on educational technology for school teachers in Flagstaff and on the Navajo reservation. He was awarded an Eisenhower Math and Science Grant in the Summer of 2000. In 2001, he became Director of the Center for Technology Enhanced Learning, NAU's online learning support group. In 2006, Larry became the Associate Director of e-Learning at NAU. During Spring, 2007 Larry worked as a consultant for Blackboard in Washington, D.C., explored learning spaces at D.C. area universities, and telecommuted to NAU. In 2014, Larry and family spent the Fall semester in Guelph, Ontario, Canada while Alice was on sabbatical and Larry telecommuted for NAU. Larry is a highly rated online course designer and instructor, and is a recognized expert on the design of learning spaces and the effective use of educational technologies. He consults frequently on the design of high quality online learning programs, and has over 20 years of experience in the field. He has been the director of NAU's e-Learning Center, a division of NAU Online, since 2018.
When not working, Larry likes to spend time with his family (big kids, Michael and Julia, his little kids, Carson and Thomas, and wife Alice). He skiis and plays hockey in Winter, bicycles in Summer, backpacks the Grand Canyon in Spring and Fall, and tinkers with technology most of the time.
