La Verne Abe Harris is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Graphics Technology at Purdue University and the Co-Director of the IDEA Laboratory. Dr. Harris joined the Purdue University Computer Graphics Technology Department in 2007, coming from Arizona State University where she taught courses in cross-media design solutions, multimedia, information design and usability, and portfolio design and presentation. At Purdue she teaches human computer interface design and theory, creative thinking, multimedia, and design and visualization.

Her research is centered in the IDEA Laboratory, a creative thinking, interactive media, and animation research and development laboratory at Purdue. Harris, along with her laboratory partner Nicoletta Adamo-Villani, work on a variety of projects including serious games for sTEm (science, technology, engineering, and math) education. 

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.

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 company, and the owner and consultant of Harris Studio, a computer graphic consultation and creative business.

She is the recipient of the 2007 Electronic Document Systems Foundation (EDSF) Higher Education Teacher of the Year selected by graphics business professionals internationally. Dr. Harris has served as the Director of Publications/Editor of the Engineering Design Graphics Journal and was the founder and co-director of the Arizona State University online graduate program.