Interpretive Perspectives

Larry Beck, PhD, is emeritus professor at San Diego State University where he received the Monty (Distinguished Faculty) Award for his scholarship and teaching, the university’s highest honor. He received the National Association for Interpretation’s Meritorious Service Award and Fellow Award (NAI’s highest honor). Beck has written extensively in the interpretive field as lead author of The Gifts of Interpretation: Fifteen Guiding Principles for Interpreting Nature and Culture, Interpretive Perspectives, and Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage: For a Better World. Prior to more than four decades at San Diego State University he worked as a field interpreter at several units of the National Park Service including Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Most recently he received NAI’s President’s Award for his 2018-2024 “Justice for All” series in Legacy magazine that focused on justice, equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion issues.