Dr. Terry B. Grier is a Venture Partner in the Education Practice of RIDGE-LANE LP.
Dr. Grier has served as Superintendent of Houston Independent School District, and San Diego Unified School District, as well as Guilford County Schools.
Dr. Grier reorganized Houston Independent School District senior staff and organizational structure for maximum efficiency and effectiveness in supporting schools with services and resources, helping principals create high-quality instructional teams and programs focused on student academic growth, to establish and achieve bold and measurable goals, and to work with their school communities.
Under his leadership, San Diego Unified School District saw student test scores improve dramatically in a year when the district budget was cut by $200 million, opened Southern California's first virtual online high school, increased the number of Advanced Placement exams taken by minority high-school students by 12.5 percent, passed a $2.1-billion school construction/renovation bond package with 69 percent voter approval, and improved student performance on the California Standards Tests to an all-time district high, with scores rising more in one year than in the three previous years combined.
Dr. Grier led Guilford County Schools to cut dropout rates in half, more than doubled the college scholarships available to high-school seniors, tripled minority-student enrollment in Advanced Placement classes, and increased the high-school graduation rate to 80 percent. He also opened the High School Ahead Academy to serve 450 over-age middle-school students who are two or more years behind in school by speeding up their readiness for high school through immersion in core academic subjects, with a primary focus on math and English language arts.
Dr. Grier has received numerous awards in recognition of his accomplished leadership, including the North Carolina Superintendent of the Year Award, the American Association of School Administrators' Effie H. Jones Humanitarian Award, the North Carolina Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development’s Distinguished Educator Award, and the Congressional Black Caucus’s ET3 Tech Champion Award. Dr. Grier earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from East Carolina University and his doctorate in education from Vanderbilt University.
