Dean Ed Grier Leaves Leavey With Momentum
As he approaches retirement, the dean reflects on four years of innovation and growth, plus what comes next.
Dean Ed Grier can name plenty of highlights from his four-plus years at the helm of the Leavey School of Business: Earning a top 20 ranking for the school’s part-time MBA program from U.S. News & World Report. Developing brand-new curriculum offerings to meet market demands. Celebrating the school’s 100th anniversary. Ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
But as Grier looks back before his Dec. 31 retirement, the most rewarding moment might have been his final commencement earlier this year, where countless students shared highly personal thanks and hugs with him. Undergraduates there had been on roughly the same four-year journey as him.
“As a leader, you don’t always realize the impact you’re having on others,” Grier says. “I know that the entire Leavey organization, not just me, made a profoundly positive difference for our students. That’s what I’m most proud of.”
Those in-person moments were a 180-degree turn from how Grier’s tenure started. He interviewed for the position via Zoom in early 2021 during the pandemic. As he established his Leavey PLUS (partnerships, leadership, unity and sustainability) strategic plan, he presided over a business school that stood largely empty as faculty and students worked and learned remotely.
Fortunately, he also got to preside over the return of campus life. In his time as dean, he has helped build the school’s staff — with an eye on how the school markets itself and how it serves students — and strategically expanded faculty in disciplines that are critical to the future of business. He has formed partnerships with corporations and global educational institutions alike. And he has helped rethink curriculum, as well as how it is delivered.
“Dean Grier has been a dynamic and approachable leader for the students, faculty, and staff of the Leavey School of Business for the past four years,” said James M. Glaser, provost and executive vice president at Santa Clara University, in Poets&Quants. “The university owes him a deep debt of gratitude for his stewardship and care of our esteemed school of business.”
Future Challenges and Discerning Leaders
Grier came to Leavey after serving as dean of Virginia Commonwealth University’s business school. Before VCU, he spent 29 years at The Walt Disney Company, concluding his career there as President of the Disneyland Resort.
So he brought a blend of higher ed understanding and corporate acumen to the role — a blend evident in his focus on leadership as an integrated field of study. Based on the highly recognized work of scholars such as former dean Barry Posner and Santa Clara University’s grounding in Jesuit education, Grier quickly recognized that leadership could be a key differentiator for the Leavey School of Business. So he and the school reconfigured the undergraduate curriculum to include leadership studies in each year of study.
“For the first time, students that start this year will have a four-year leadership journey fully baked into the curriculum,” Grier says. “I think this will have huge benefits for our students. Not only will they be technically proficient, they will be able to make discernments and the judgment calls that they need to make as leaders.”
The idea is that beyond knowing the essentials of their chosen field — be it marketing, management, data analytics or something else — these future leaders will have an edge in making informed, ethical decisions. To Grier, that’s critical as the business world faces major challenges such as how best to implement AI with humans in mind.
Grier has adapted or added programs based around other challenges and opportunities, too. The executive MBA program — ranked No. 1 in Silicon Valley and No. 11 in the country by U.S. News & World Report — evolved to become a hybrid program including both online and in-person work, which accounts for the needs and preferences of busy students. Grier also oversaw the launch of a master’s program in sports business, largely leaning on Leavey’s network of alumni working in the field for advice.
“That's just one example of how we differentiate ourselves in the marketplace,” he says.
In addition to leadership, Grier has focused heavily on partnerships. That includes expanding the pipeline of Silicon Valley companies making appearances on campus and providing internship opportunities for students. He is proud to have helped expand the school’s profile far beyond the region, too. For one example, a strategic trip to India by Leavey leaders in 2024 resulted in ongoing collaborations with multiple universities in the country.
“Even with current visa and immigration challenges, those universities wish to proceed with us,” he says. “It just opened up enormous long-term possibilities to really establish ourselves as a global university, more so than ever before.”
Even after his retirement, Grier will remain available as a consultant for the school as it completes the search for a new leader. And he says he’ll always be an ambassador for Leavey.
“We have a lot of momentum,” he says. “I feel good about where we are as a business school and about being competitive. But I think we still have such a high ceiling, and we're not even close to hitting it yet.”