LaRae Larkin was born April 4, 1941 to Venna and Ben Larkin in Ogden, Utah. Larkin earned a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in 1963, followed by a master’s degree in Russian History from Utah State University in 1976. She completed her Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Utah in 1990, with specializations in Soviet Politics, Foreign Policy, and International Law. While completing her doctoral studies, she taught at Roy High in Roy, Utah and served as an adjunct professor at both Weber State University in Ogden, Utah and Columbia College in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In 1991, Larkin joined Weber State University full-time as Director of the Social Science Education Center and as an Associate Professor of History. During her tenure at WSU, she was involved in many initiatives on and off campus. Larkin was heavily involved in WSU internship programs in Washington D.C. with Pal-Tech, Inc., the Mid-East Policy Council, Washington Report on Mid-East Affairs, and more. She held positions such as Director of the History Alliance, Director of Educational Exchanges between WSU and Russia, Director and Coordinator for the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, Director and Coordinator the Truman Scholarship Foundation, and Director of the Morris Udall Scholarship Foundation. Additionally, she collaborated with the Larry H. Miller Institute to establish the Miller Teaching Institute. Larkin retired from WSU in June 2018 and lives in Eden, Utah.