Roy E. Larsen Papers

Roy E. Larsen was born on April 20, 1899 in Boston, Massachusetts to Robert and Stella Belyea Larsen. Larsen graduated from Boston Latin School in 1917 and from Harvard College in 1921. At Harvard, Larsen became the treasurer of the student run literary magazine, the Advocate. After graduation, he considered a career in banking and spent a short, unsatisfying stint in the credit department of the New York Trust Company. Larsen left that position after being hired as circulation manager of the newly founded Time magazine. He began a lifelong career in journalism and publishing, spending his next fifty-six years working for Time Inc.

Larsen became Time’s chief business manager and vice-president in 1929. Larsen played an active role in creating the innovative news program March of Time. It began as a radio show in 1931 and was soon transformed into a newsreel shown in movie theaters, running from 1935-1951. Larsen oversaw the first publication of Life magazine in 1936. In 1939, he was appointed President of Time Inc. and remained in that position until 1960. Larsen guided the launch of Sports Illustrated in 1954. As accomplished as he was in publishing, Larsen’s true avocation was education reform.

In 1945, Larsen was invited to participate in a newly formed organization, the National Citizens Commission for the Public Schools (NCCPS). The organization sought to raise the nation’s awareness of the public school system’s importance and to encourage local efforts to improve public education. Larsen was appointed the chairman of the exploratory committee in 1946 and became the chairman of the board when the NCCPS became chartered as a non-profit organization in 1949. He held that post until the charter expired in 1956 and NCCPS was succeeded by the organization National Citizens Council for Better Schools. That was, however, just the beginning of Larsen’s engagement with public school reform.

In 1956, Larsen served on the President’s Committee on Education Beyond the High School. He also attended White House conferences on education in 1956 and 1965. Larsen was vice-chairman of the United States Advisory Commission on International Educational and Cultural Affairs from 1962-1965. This commission evaluated the State Department’s programs for inter-cultural education and exchange. From 1962-1969, Larsen was also a national review board member for the East-West Center, an education and research organization established by Congress to promote greater inter-cultural relations between Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. Additionally, Larsen served on the Ford Foundation’s Fund for the Advancement of Education. He became a trustee of the Fund in 1953 and served as chairman of the board from 1955-1967. Larsen was also a member of the Ford Foundation’s board of trustees from 1957-1969.

Despite his other engagements, Larsen always found time to give back to Harvard University. Larsen served on the Board of Overseers from 1940-1946 and 1953-1959. He served as president of the board from 1958-1959. Larsen also served on the Harvard Graduate School of Education Visiting Committee from 1950-1973. He was the Committee’s Vice Chairman from 1964-1966 and the Chairman from 1967/1968-1972/1973. He donated generously though almost always anonymously. Larsen was a true benefactor of the university, and for his service Harvard dedicated a building, Larsen Hall, to him in 1965. Larsen remained active in various university committees as late as 1978.

Larsen died on September 9, 1979.