Larson, Robert E.

Dr. Larson has enjoyed a challenging and fruitful career in the computer and electronics industry for the past 40 years. Since 1983 he has been a General Partner with Woodside Fund, an early-stage venture capital fund based in Silicon Valley. He has participated in all aspects of venture capital operations, including service on numerous Boards of Directors. From 1968 to 1983 he was co-founder, President and CEO of Systems Control, a computer systems and software company with 500 employees, including 100 with Ph.D. degrees, prior to its sale to British Petroleum. In addition, in 1982 he was President of the international Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the 340,000 member professional society for electrical engineers and computer scientists. Dr. Larson previously worked for IBM, Hughes Aircraft and SRI International. He was also a Consulting Professor at Stanford University in the Engineering-Economic Systems Department from 1973 to 1988. He received his Ph.D. and MS degrees from Stanford University, and a BS degree from MIT, all in Electrical Engineering. He has written six textbooks and 140 technical papers on software and computer systems. Dr. Larson has been actively involved in China since his first visit there in 1980. He has lectured at Tsinghua University and has been named an Honorary Professor at Beijing University for Post and Telecommunications. He has worked with a number of Chinese entrepreneurs developing companies in both China and the U.S. He has also been an advisor to numerous government, university, and industrial organizations in China, including the Development Research Center of the State Council, the Zhongguancun Science Park and the State Grid Corporation of China.