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History
Visuals Unlimited (VU) began in the 1960's while Dr. Cunningham was
writing, editing, and doing research for several of the large National
Science Foundation-funded science curriculum development projects. As
the need for good scientific, medical, and natural history photography
became clear, Dr. Cunningham began to assemble photographers from around
the world, and that growth continues today. The VU "family" now includes
over 500 photographers and the VU collection houses 1.5 million images.
VU has also been involved in photo research for a number of major textbooks
and other works and that capability continues. The number and variety of
VU clients around the world has also grown enormously and Visuals Unlimited
has established its reputation as a knowledgeable, reliable, accurate
service for publishers of college, secondary, and elementary textbooks,
children's books on various topics, scientific, and gardening magazines,
scientific and other trade books, educational TV, museum/aquarium/zoo/park
exhibits and publications, and numerous other commercial projects.
Founder's Bio
Dr. Cunningham, a former biology professor, has written 18 science textbooks
for college, high school, and elementary school students. He earned his
bachelor and masters degree from University of California. He earned his
doctorate in educational psychology at the University of Southern
California. Dr. Cunningham then went on to teach biology, zoology, and
various other science classes at University of California, Florida State
University, Oregon College of Education, and Keene State University where
he was the Dean of Graduate Studies. Dr. Cunningham's early research dealt
mainly with the ecology of reptiles and amphibians. However, following a
serendipitous involvement with the Laboratory School at UCLA, John became
interested in the psychology of human learning and in the field of science
education. Shortly after that in the 1960's, NASA became interested in
public education and the National Science Foundation begun funding major
national science curriculum development projects. John became a writer
and a developer for several of these large projects at the University of
California-Berkeley, Florida State University, and elsewhere. It became
clear that a source of images for educational publishing was needed in the
scientific, medical, and natural history areas and Visuals Unlimited was
born as an important aside to John's academic teaching, research, and
administrative work. As VU grew, it was evident that it could not be
combined with academic life and in the early 1990's John left teaching
to devote his full attention to VU.
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