Dr. La Verne Abe Harris is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Graphics Technology at Purdue University. She received her PhD from the University of Arizona in higher education with an emphasis in sociotechnology, and a minor in media arts. She received her Master of Technology degree in graphic communications technology and her BA in art education/commercial art from Arizona State University. Her area of expertise is creative thinking, information design, interactive multimedia, and how media design impacts learning.

Dr. Harris came to the university with many years of industry experience in information design, illustration, and computer graphics. She was the art director of The Phoenix Gazette, the computer graphics production manager at Phoenix Newspapers, Inc., an editorial illustrator for The Arizona Republic, the creative director of a Phoenix advertising agency, and the owner and consultant of Harris Studio, a computer graphic consultation and creative business .