Edward Arthur Grier (born February 15, 1955) is the dean of the

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...

School of Business. Before coming to VCU, he was an executive at

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

Education and early career

He has a bachelor's degree in accounting from

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit , image = Holy Gh ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. A certified public accountant, Grier worked for

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...

Career at Disney

Before coming to VCU, Grier spent 29 years with the Walt Disney Company. He joined

in 1981 as senior auditor at Walt Disney World in Florida. Grier held executive positions at the

Walt Disney World Resort The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and At the Florida resort, he served as general manager for the operation lines of business at the

Epcot Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...

and

Disney-MGM Studios Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Based on a concept by ...

theme parks. In the early 1990s, Grier served as a member of an expatriate team that was assigned to

Disneyland Resort Paris Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Chessy, France, east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, resort hotels, Disney Nature Resorts, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, and a golf course. Disneyland Park is the origin ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

for one year. While there, Grier was establishing the resort's marketing division and developing Pan-European marketing strategies. Grier served as executive managing director of Walt Disney Attractions Japan, where he supervised Disney operations for the

Tokyo Disney Resort The (local nickname ''TDR'') is a theme park and vacation resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just east of Tokyo. The resort is fully owned and operated by The Oriental Land Company under a licence from The Walt Disney Company, who const ...

and the day-to-day relationship with the

Oriental Land Company is a Japanese leisure and tourism corporation headquartered in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan where it also owns and operates the Tokyo Disney Resort. The company operates in three segments, divided as theme parks, hotels, and other business. Oriental ...

, which owns the property. Grier joined Disneyland Resort in July 2006 (replacing

Matt Ouimet Matt Ouimet is executive chairman of Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, a publicly traded company that owns 12 amusement parks in the United States and Canada. Early life Born in 1958 in Cooperstown, New York and raised in Unadilla NY. His first ...

). He reported to Al Weiss, president of operations for

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., formerly Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and informally known as Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Company's five major business segments and a subsidiary. It was founded on Apri ...

. As president of

Disneyland Resort The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks (D ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

properties under his purview included:

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...

and

Disney California Adventure Park Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA, is a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Park ...

theme parks, the Disneyland Hotel,

Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa (also known as the Grand Californian) is a hotel located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. The hotel was constructed as part of a major expansion of the Disneyland Resort in 2001. It was c ...

Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks (Di ...

, and the

Downtown Disney Downtown Disney (officially the Downtown Disney District) is an outdoor shopping center located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It opened on January 12, 2001; a component of the Disneyland Resort expansion project alongside the ...

retail, dining and entertainment district. Grier announced his retirement from the company on October 5, 2009.

Career at VCU Business School

Grier was named dean of the

School of Business on February 8, 2010. On May 2, 2017, he took on an interim role as university’s "vice president for development and alumni relations.". He would serve in that role until the hiring of the new vice president, which was expected in the Summer of 2017. On April 6th, 2021, Grier announced that he would be leaving VCU in June of 2021 to become the new dean of the business school at Santa Clara University.

References

External links

Walt Disney Company profile of Ed Grier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grier, Ed Disneyland Resort Living people Duquesne University alumni Walt Disney Parks and Resorts people Disney executives 1955 births Ernst & Young people