Terry was born, raised and inspired by the rhythms, beats, and voices of New Orleans and Louisiana music in the other LA……lower Alabama. After which, he received a B.S. in Engineering and a B.A. in Education from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, where he is inducted into their Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. Subsequently, he attained a J.D. in Law and an M.B.A. from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY and then embarked on a varied career including being a commercial banker in Connecticut and leading the mergers and acquisitions departments at two Fortune 50 companies in New York.

Next, he was finally allowed to exercise his love of all things pop culture as the President and C.O.O. of Marvel Entertainment, the home of Spider Man, The X-men, The Avengers, and 5,000 other characters. After nine years, he then switched over to the driving force of much of his life, music, via the position of President and C.E.O of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.

Retiring after 14 years as the Rock Hall’s longest running leader, he continued on this path as the head of Artist Relations at Gibson Guitar in Nashville, Tennessee. This was followed by his becoming the Chairmen of the not-for-profit El Dorado Festivals & Events in El Dorado, Arkansas, where he led the creation and construction of a $100 million arts and entertainment district.

Long active in philanthropic endeavors, Terry has served nationally in many capacities including the Chicago Chapter Board of the Recording Academy (Grammys), Vice Chair of the R&B Foundation in New York, Advisor to the Summer Stage Concert Series in Central Park, member of the US UNICEF Board in NY, and as a Director of the Austin City Limits Venture Group in Austin, Texas. Similarly, he has been on the boards of numerous local not-for-profit entities related to the arts and civic services in Cleveland, where he and his family have resided since 1999.

Terry is also proud of his massive collection of music memorabilia consisting of posters, jukeboxes, records, etc. This includes an enormous number of 45 and 78 RPM discs on the never-ending list of Louisiana labels that represent the history of America’s music dating as far back as 1891.