Faculty Profile for Grayson B Lawrence

profile photo for Grayson B Lawrence
Grayson B Lawrence
Associate Professor — School of Art and Design
JCM 3115
phone: (512) 245-2611

Biography Section

Biography and Education

Grayson was born in Austin, Tx and earned his BFA and MFA in Communication Design from Texas State University. After working in the field as a brand, advertising, interaction, and game designer, he returned to TxState to teach in 2004.

Other than wearing geeky t-shirts, slinging tons of “dad-jokes”, and drooling over British motorbikes, Grayson loves to teach Web and Mobile Application Design in both the graduate and undergraduate programs. He also teaches User Experience in our MFA graduate program. Grayson co-hosts an annual hackathon, creating teams of Communication Design and Computer Science students to solve real-world interaction design problems.

From a research perspective, Grayson has created mobile applications for museums, high-school Government classes, physician-physician communication, and campus safety. Currently, he is developing new rapid prototyping techniques for virtual reality (VR) and working with his students and co-researchers, designing environments to help veterans cope with PTSD.

Teaching Interests

Anything software design and human-centered, Interdisciplinary collaboration, entrepreneurship

Research Interests

Interdisciplinary collaboration, EMS, PTSD, Virtual Reality healthcare and training, Mobile Application Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI)

Selected Scholarly/Creative Work

  • UX Designer, Therapeutic and Training Applications of Virtual Reality for Speech-related Social Anxiety in Stuttering\. January 1, 2022 - November 2, 2023.
  • UX Designer, Virtual Workplace Violence Training. November 18, 2022 - January 1, 2023.
  • UX Designer, Project Manager, Virtual Reality Ambulance Bay Mass Casualty Incident training. April 1, 2021 - January 1, 2023.
  • UX Designer, UI Designer, ATS Hero Analytics Control Panel. June 1, 2019 - January 1, 2023.
  • UX Designer, Project Manager, Virtual Reality Housing Code Enforcement Training. May 1, 2021 - August 1, 2021.

Selected Awards

  • Award / Honor Recipient: American Graphic Design Awards for Camp Howdy-Do! Branding System, Graphic Design USA. December 2019
  • Award / Honor Recipient: American Graphic Design Awards for Augmented Training Systems Logo, Graphic Design USA. December 1, 2019
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Texas State Quarterly Team Award, Team Recognition Committee (Nancy Nusbaum, Chair). November 1, 2018
  • Award / Honor Recipient: American Graphic Design Award for Govely Political App for High School Students, Graphic Design USA. November 1, 2016
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Favorite Professor Award, Alpha Chi National College Honor Society. January 1, 2015

Selected Grants

  • Howard, Krista J (Principal), Ceballos, Natalie A (Supporting), Grimes, Thomas (Supporting), Dailey, Stephanie Layne (Supporting), Lu, Yongmei (Supporting), Lee, Hsun Ming (Supporting), Sharma, Shobhit (Supporting), Lawrence, Grayson B (Other). Does Social Media Make Us Sick? A Pilot Study on the Effects of Social Media on Physiological Reactivity and Mental Health, MIRG, Texas State University, $23784. (Funded: July 2018 - February 2020). Grant.
  • Irani, Farzan (Principal), Smith, Kenneth Scott (Co-Principal), Lawrence, Grayson B. Therapeutic and Training Applications of Virtual Reality for Speech-related Social Anxiety in Stuttering, Texas State University, $27962. (Funded: May 16, 2022 - August 31, 2024). Grant.
  • Antonia, Abby (Principal), Smith, Kenneth S (Principal), Nason, Erica (Co-Principal), Lawrence, Grayson B (Co-Principal), Koutitas, George (Co-Principal), Tiura, Angela (Co-Principal), Zawaki, Tina (Supporting), Wegner, Rhiana (Supporting). Alcohol's Effects on Affective, Cognitive, and Behavioral Responses in a Virtual Reality Dating Simulation, National Institute Of Health, Federal, $2375752. (Submitted: February 5, 2020, Funded: January 1, 2022 - Present). Grant.
  • Koutitas, Georgios (Principal), Spencer, Bobbi J (Co-Principal), Lawrence, Grayson B (Co-Principal), Smith, Kenneth Scott (Co-Principal), Zong, Ziliang (Co-Principal). CO-Search AR/VR Training for Safety in Construction, Texas State University, Texas State University, $10000. (Submitted: May 2019, Funded: July 2019 - July 2020). Grant.
  • Koutitas, Georgios (Co-Principal), Lawrence, Grayson B (Co-Principal), Smith, Kenneth Scott (Co-Principal), Blair, John P (Principal). Big Ideas Training with AR/VR in Law Enforcement Areas, Texas State University. (Funded: June 2019 - Present). Grant.

Selected Service Activities

Chair
School of Art & Design Scholarship Committee
September 1, 2019-Present
Member
College of Fine Arts and Communication Scholarship Committee
September 1, 2019-Present
Volunteer
Rideshare to Vote
October 1, 2016-Present
Chair
Communication Design Fun Committee
January 1, 2015-Present
Member
College Promotion and Tenure Review Committee
December 1, 2023-January 31, 2024