Roman Larson is currently a Product Strategy Analyst at Cengage Learning, a leading provider of education technology and content. He previously worked at Goldman Sachs in the product data quality team, managing the firm’s products and pricing systems. Before Goldman, he was a Project Manager in the National Assessment Services division of Pearson where he was also an Associate in the Pearson Leadership Development Program and a North America Diversity & Inclusion Advocate.
Roman studied at Stanford University from 2011 - 2015 and graduated with a B.A. (with honors and distinction) in Public Policy, a Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.) with a concentration in Education Policy and a Master of Arts in Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies (M.A., POLS). Over his four years at Stanford, Roman worked with leading education economists in collaborations with high performing American public schools on research, policy, and advocacy. His honors thesis, entitled "What Can Massachusetts Teach Washington D.C.?," won the Nathan L. Rosenberg Award for an Exceptional Honors Thesis. Written under the direction of Eric Hanushek, the study explores the factors driving state-level variation in student achievement across the United States.
At Stanford, Roman was also a statistics and economics tutor in the Office of Accessible Education and a writing tutor in the Hume Center for Writing and Speaking. He pursued grant-funded research on presidential campaign advertising and held other research assistantships with the Center for Education Policy Analysis, the Hoover Institution, and the Sociology Department.
Roman previously worked at Success Academy Charter Schools in New York City with their Advocacy and Policy teams. Applying skills learned in Stanford’s interdisciplinary Public Policy Program, Roman researched education policy across the United States and analyzed New York City school performance data to advance the dual mission of Success Academy: to build world class schools and to advance education reform around the country.
Prior to Stanford, Roman founded Dimensions Learning Inc., a non-profit education service company focused on mentorship and tutorial services. The organization has served nearly 2,000 students in Southeastern Wisconsin, and volunteers have contributed over 13,000 hours of service to the Dimensions Learning programs.
Roman is passionate about American politics. While a freshman at Stanford, he campaigned for a school board seat in Mequon-Thiensville, Wisconsin, his hometown school district. His candidacy focused on ideas rooted in his non-profit organization’s mission of empowering all students to succeed academically. When not running for office, Roman’s political commentary can be found on his Facebook and Twitter pages.
In his free time, Roman trains for and runs marathons. He was an abysmal runner in high school, but found running late at night to be a terrific way to break up the long hours of studying at Stanford. Unlike in high school, running in college was about personal fulfillment and stress relief. In early 2015, a friend suggested he sign up for a marathon just for fun. Checking off "completing a marathon" on his bucket list, Roman fell in love (with marathon running, not the friend), and since May 2015, he has run in 10 marathons across the United States.
Roman’s broad goal of improving education systems and building effective schools for all children has roots in his childhood: until age 6, he lived in a Russian children's home. Born in Chelyabinsk, Russia, Roman feels immensely grateful for the opportunity to come to America, and the children who remained behind motivate Roman daily.