Teri Perl

Teri Perl
Perl, Teri
Born	November 19, 1926 New York City, New York
Occupation	Founder

Career

Teri Perl is a mathematician, educator, and software designer best known as a co-founder of The Learning Company, where she helped bring abstract mathematical concepts to life for children through interactive educational software. Her career has been defined by a passion for making math accessible, visual, and engaging, especially for girls and underrepresented students.

Academic and Early Teaching Career

Teri Perl earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education and established herself as a respected voice in the movement to demystify mathematics for general audiences, particularly for children and women. Her early work included teaching mathematics and developing educational materials that emphasized visual learning, creativity, and exploration over rote memorization.

She was also an advocate for gender equity in math education, publishing work that examined the cultural and educational factors that discouraged girls from pursuing mathematics. Her perspective combined scholarly rigor with an empathetic, learner-first approach that would become central to her later software work.

Co-Founding The Learning Company (1980–1981)

In 1980, Teri Perl joined forces with Ann McCormick, Leslie Grimm, and Warren Robinett at Alternative Learning Technologies, soon renamed to The Learning Company— a successful educational software startup that helped legitimize the consumer edutainment product category. The team was united by a shared belief that personal computers could be tools of discovery for children, and that effective learning software needed to be grounded in pedagogy, not just entertainment.

Perl brought her deep understanding of math education to the design of TLC’s early titles. She played a key creative and conceptual role in shaping software that presented math and logic not as dry academic subjects, but as playful systems to explore. The Learning Company's products, including Rocky's Boots and Juggles’ Rainbow, reflected this philosophy by encouraging children to build, experiment, and solve problems in open-ended ways.

Author and Advocate for Math Education

Beyond her software work, Perl has made lasting contributions as an author. Her book Math Equals: Biographies of Women Mathematicians + Related Activities (co-authored with Lillian R. Morrison, 1978) showcased the achievements of women in mathematics throughout history. It combined storytelling with hands-on learning activities, and remains a landmark in efforts to inspire young girls to see themselves as potential mathematicians.

Her other work includes Patterns in Mathematics, a book that uses art, architecture, and design to teach mathematical patterns and structures. In all her educational outreach, Perl emphasized a multidisciplinary, humanistic approach to math, aiming to make it welcoming, intuitive, and fun.

Later Contributions and Legacy

While she departed The Learning Company early in its history, Teri Perl's influence helped shape the company's identity and product ethos— prioritizing deep learning, accessible design, and joyful experimentation. The Learning Company would go on to become a very successful educational software brand from about 1982 through the early 2000's.

Teri Perl’s legacy lies in her efforts to transform how math is taught and understood, particularly through visual learning and narrative, and to champion inclusivity in STEM long before it became a mainstream cause.