NESAW Staff
The dedicated, experienced staff at the New England School of Architectural Woodworking works diligently to ensure that our students get the best possible education in woodworking, whether that leads to a career or a passion or both.
Greg Larson, Director & Instructor
Greg Larson's lifelong love of woodworking began when he first took a shop class at his high school in St. Paul, Minnesota. Although he chose to pursue a career as a computer engineer in Colorado and California, he continued to learn the craft of woodworking through training programs at the Heartwood School, the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship and, yes, the New England School of Architectural Woodworking.
After a career in high tech manufacturing, including 10 years at Apple Computer, Greg decided to fully pursue his passion for architectural woodworking. He and his wife, Margaret, moved from northern California to Massachusetts, where Greg began working as a cabinetmaker in a custom cabinet shop. There he discovered that his extensive knowledge of manufacturing operations and systems, including process optimization, project management, and quality assurance, dovetailed perfectly with the growing technical sophistication of the architectural woodworking industry.
Greg was recruited to join the faculty at NESAW, which was an ideal blending of his hands-on experience, lifelong study of the craft and management skills. Greg and Margaret eventually decided to purchase the school, bringing a new energy and a fresh approach to the New England School of Architectural Woodworking. Greg and Margaret live with their son Eric in Southampton, where Greg tries valiantly to find the time for his own woodworking projects.
Glenn Leonard, Instructor
Glenn Leonard has been a professional woodworker for 35 years, focusing on cabinetry and furniture construction. Glenn began his woodworking career in northern Utah, apprenticing under a homebuilder. Here he learned cabinet installation and finish carpentry, along with framing and roofing skills before moving to a full-time position in a local cabinet shop.
Glenn eventually established his own business, Leonard's Fine Woodworks, focusing on cabinetry and furniture work. He built his company steadily over the next 15 years, developing a comprehensive knowledge of the profession and utilizing a wide range of cabinet and furniture making techniques and processes. Later, he added another woodworking specialty, building dogsleds, which has led him to develop and hone new woodworking skills, such as bent wood fabrication.
In 2000, Glenn relocated his business to western Massachusetts, to join the area's rich collection of exceptional woodworkers, craftspersons and artisans. Here, Glenn focused on high-end custom cabinetry installation, along with building, testing and refining his dogsled designs.
In 2008, Glenn joined the faculty of the New England School of Architectural Woodworking, Easthampton, as a full time cabinetmaking instructor. Glenn lives in Southampton, where he takes every opportunity he can to go sledding with his six sled dogs.
Margaret Larson, Marketing Director
Margaret Larson was born and raised in California and is still a little surprised to find herself living in New England. After a career in high tech marketing, including five years at Hewlett Packard in the Networking and LaserJet Divisions, Margaret went back to school to become a high school English teacher. She taught for several years in both California and Massachusetts before deciding to take a leave of absence to work on the marketing efforts for NESAW. Her experience in marketing, business management and education have been a valuable asset to the school.
Although Margaret isn't an accomplished woodworker (yet), she is taking several of the Beginning Woodworking workshops and Summer Intensives and is a great resource if you're not sure which workshop to take. When she's not at the school or taking care of son Eric, she's most likely working in her large vegetable and perennial gardens or volunteering as a Master Gardener.
