Ed Grier


Ed Grier is the dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business. Before coming to VCU, he was an executive at The Walt Disney Company.

Education and Early Career

He has a bachelor's degree in accounting from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
A certified public accountant, Grier worked for Ernst & Young.

Career at Disney

Before coming to VCU, Grier spent 29 years with the Walt Disney Company. He joined The Walt Disney Company in 1981 as senior auditor at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Grier held executive positions at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and At the Florida resort, he served as general manager for the operation lines of business at the Epcot and Disney-MGM Studios theme parks.
In the early 1990s, Grier served as a member of an expatriate team that was assigned to Disneyland Resort Paris in France 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 and the day-to-day relationship with the Oriental Land Company, which owns the property.
Grier joined Disneyland Resort in July 2006. He reported to Al Weiss, president of operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. As president of Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California properties under his purview included: Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park theme parks, the Disneyland Hotel, Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel, and the Downtown Disney 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 Virginia Commonwealth University 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.