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Charles G. Larson ‘64

2015 Distinguished Alumni Award for Community Service

Charlie Larson ’64 drives the Indianapolis area’s food drive each year for Carroll’s National Day of Service but his commitment digs deeper in his community. He is consistently involved with organizations that provide food for those in need, such as Second Helpings Indianapolis.
 
A 1964 graduate of Carroll, Larson began his volunteer activities in Chicago; serving as a Hi Y counselor for a high school age club at the Evanston (IL) YMCA. As a member of the Chicago Junior Chamber of Commerce, Larson also served at Thresholds, a half-way house for former mental patients, helping a young man transition back to society. And he was part of a team to help a minority business group obtain a fast-food franchise.
 
In Indianapolis, Larson is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Humane Society of Indianapolis. He was also a Board member and president of the Indianapolis Chapter of the American Marketing Association.
 
Currently he is a volunteer mentor for SCORE (Select Committee of Retired Executives), a volunteer group of the Small Business Administration, mentoring small business owners and helping entrepreneurs in the planning process for starting a business.
 
He is also a licensed pilot and serves as a safety officer and mission pilot for the Civil Air Patrol (CAP). CAP pilots are called upon to assist in search and rescue missions, disaster relief, humanitarian services, Air Force support and Counterdrug missions.
 
Professionally, Larson is principal and owner of Charles Larson Associates, a flexible network of qualified independent marketing and communications firms located throughout the Midwest.
After earning his degree in business administration and psychology at Carroll, he went on to Indiana University to earn his MBA. Throughout his career in advertising and marketing, he has worked of some of the best-known brands in the US.
 
Larson has won two prestigious national EFFIE awards from the American Marketing Association for effectiveness in marketing programs. One EFFIE was for the capabilities positioning for Ameritech (prior to the acquisition by SBC). The other was for a new product, First Foods, from the Gerber Products Company.
 
In addition, Larson has served as an adjunct professor of marketing and advertising at Northwestern University, Butler University and the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
 
As a student at Carroll, he was a member of the varsity football team, co-chair of the freshman orientation committee, Student Senate, president of the Junior Class and president of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

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