Confronted with the challenge of educational inequality, children in remote or under-resourced schools lacking access to quality STEM instruction, Dr. Richard Larson saw a profound problem that called for a revolutionary approach. Traditional e-learning often failed to engage students authentically, making it difficult to foster critical thinking and real understanding.

Enter Mary Elizabeth Murray (“Liz”), his partner and collaborator. From the outset, Liz brought more than unwavering support; she brought vision. Together, they co‑founded MIT BLOSSOMS (Blended Learning Open Source Science or Math Studies), creating a platform of free, interactive video lessons coupled with guided teacher facilitation. Their complementary strengths, Richard’s mastery of complex systems and operations research and Liz’s leadership as program manager and educator, transformed abstract educational ideals into a thriving global initiative.

At MIT, Richard had already earned acclaim as “Dr. Queue,” optimizing urban emergency responses and unraveling the mathematics of waiting lines. Yet he saw that the same principles could reshape everyday thinking. Framing problems, modeling uncertainty, and optimizing decisions were as applicable to catching a ferry as they were to serving underserved students. Liz’s empathetic leadership ensured that BLOSSOMS wasn’t just technically sound but deeply human-centered. As insiders recall, she was “the backbone of my professional journey and my teammate in every sense.”

Their shared mission, to make rigorous STEM education accessible, equitable, and memorable, continues to flourish in over 20 countries. Though Liz has passed, the platform they built together stands as a testament to partnership, empathy, and innovation. Richard and Liz proved that tackling a global challenge requires not just analytical models but compassionate collaboration.

From Curiosity in Queens to MIT’s Halls

Richard Charles Larson’s journey begins in Bayside, Queens (born 1943), followed by a childhood near the Susquehanna River, where exploration became his guiding principle. That curiosity lit his path to Needham High School, where mastering physics secured him a place at MIT at age 18. Initially an Electrical Engineering major, he soon pivoted to operations research (OR), a field that treated societal systems as models to understand and improve.

Fraternity life in Phi Beta Epsilon offered more than camaraderie; it offered mentorship and belonging, critical as he navigated MIT’s demands. Under advisor Alvin W. Drake, Larson shifted toward urban policing systems, a project born from real-world curiosity and dubbed his dissertation: “Models for the Allocation of Urban Police Patrol Forces.” Drake encouraged him to stay at MIT as faculty, and with typical humility, he wondered if he belonged, what he later called the Groucho Marx syndrome. Accepting the offer, he set foot on a path that would anchor his life’s work in teaching, research, and application at the heart of one of the world’s top universities.

Pioneering Models with Real-World Impact

As a young scholar at MIT, Larson dove into the mathematics of service systems. His signature innovation: the Hypercube Queueing Model, a powerful method for optimizing emergency services like ambulance, fire, and police by modeling responder allocation in spatial systems. The model’s elegance lay in its rigorous theoretical foundation and real-world focus. By compressing computations, Larson made complex systems solvable in practice, a triumph in applied OR.

Larson didn’t just publish results, he built tools. With ENFORTH Corporation, later renamed Q.E.D., he brought these models into municipal systems and policy circles, influencing how major cities handle emergencies. He applied the same rigor to pandemic response models, earning top paper honors for H1N1 vaccine distribution in 2012. His Lanchester Prize–winning “Urban Police Patrol Analysis” established him as a leader in operations research.

What stands out is Larson’s mindset: research must serve people. He bridged academia and practical systems, consulting with the U.S. Postal Service, New York City, and various government agencies. This blending of theory and pragmatism built his reputation as Dr. Queue, the go-to expert on why lines happen and how to fix them.

Education as Empowerment: Teaching and BLOSSOMS

Teaching was never secondary for Larson. It was essential. Over five decades at MIT, he taught not just OR, but how to think—analytically, critically, creatively. He stayed close to students, mentoring them one-on-one, relishing the deeper relationships formed beyond lectures.

In the 1990s, he and his wife Liz, alongside Professor Dan Frey, launched MIT BLOSSOMS, short for Blended Learning Open Source Science or Math Studies. They produced interactive STEM video modules, free for schools globally. Motivated by the belief that a child’s opportunity shouldn’t depend on location or wealth, the initiative brought quality STEM teaching to underserved classrooms. The videos are more than recordings. They’re conversation starters with projects designed to empower teachers and students.

As principal investigator at MIT’s Center for Advanced Educational Services and later as Director of Learning International Networks Consortium, LINC, he drove a vision of accessible, global learning. Whether in-person or online, Larson’s classes sparked minds. He called OR “the most important invisible profession” because its reach extends into everyday decisions, from airline schedules to healthcare logistics.

Partnership, Purpose, and Personal Philosophy

A central thread in Larson’s story is consistent: his soulmate, Mary Elizabeth Murray, known affectionately as Liz. Married for 43 years, Liz was more than a partner. She was co-architect of his mission. She brought empathy and insight to conferences, classrooms, and outreach programs. Her advice is often credited for shifting him toward writing Model Thinking for Everyday Life in 2023.

Liz encouraged Larson to balance his intellectual passions with family, learning when to turn off the academic mind and simply be a husband, father, and grandfather. Her passing in October 2022 left a void, but he channels their shared dream into continued outreach and writing.

Larson carries a daily mantra of gratitude. Early health scares and a life built on curiosity helped him find deep purpose in each day. A day without learning is, to him, wasted. That’s why he sees learning in everything, from a pet’s behavior to a math model, and why two research breakthroughs even came to him in dreams.

A Legacy in Leadership, Mentorship, and the Future

Larson’s influence extends far beyond MIT. He led ORSA and later INFORMS, advocating interdisciplinary collaboration, open access, and service-centered research. Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1993 and recipient of the Lanchester Prize, Kimball Medal, INFORMS Presidents Award, and options like the Lawrence M. Klein and Daniel Berg medals, these honors reflect both excellence and impact.

Since retiring, Larson hasn’t stopped. He writes, speaks, and continues mentoring new leaders who view decisions through models, a habit he believes everyone should adopt. His book Model Thinking dissects bias, systems, randomness, and scale for everyday use. He encourages active learning and writing with pencil and paper, not passive consumption.

He’s forged a legacy that fuses analytical rigor with human empathy. His systems served citizens. His teaching nurtured leaders. His content democratized knowledge. His enduring message: servant leadership doesn’t just produce models. It shapes lives, communities, and futures.

Richard remains a rare thinker, one devoted to models and people. His life tells a story of curiosity meeting compassion, theory blending with practice, and love driving purpose. His legacy, built with Liz by his side, is a blueprint for how education, innovation, and partnership can create ripples much larger than individual careers.