Schlechty Center

Gerry House President and CEO

Institute for Student Achievement

Gerry House is president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Student Achievement (ISA) in New York, a non-profit organization that partners with public school districts to transform underperforming high schools into academically rigorous schools that graduate students prepared for success in college. Prior to joining ISA, Dr. House spent 15 years as school superintendent in Memphis, Tennessee and in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

While superintendent in Memphis, Dr. House led the district through a comprehensive change process, engaging all 160 schools in whole school reform, with a focus on standards and accountability, teaching and learning, school organization, resource allocation, student support and leadership development. The whole school reform resulted in higher student achievement outcomes.

Dr. House was superintendent of the Chapel Hill, N.C. School System for seven years. She also has served as a teacher, junior and senior high guidance counselor, principal and assistant superintendent.

Dr. House graduated from North Carolina A. & T. State University in Greensboro with a degree in English Education and holds a Master of Science degree in Counseling from Southern Illinois University. She earned her doctorate in Education Administration at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is the recipient of Honorary Doctor of Humanities degrees from Rhodes College and Lemoyne-Owen College, both in Memphis, Tennessee.

Dr. House's service on national boards includes the Board of Trustees of the Educational Testing Service (former chair, 2002-2005); the Adelphi University Board of Trustees; the Harlem Success Charter Network Board; the board of judges for the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education; the AutoZone Board of Directors; the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Board of Directors; the Schlechty Center for Leadership in School Reform (formerly CLSR) Board of Directors; and the Alliance for Excellent Education Board of Directors.

Previously, she chaired the advisory board of the Harvard Urban Superintendent's Program and served on numerous other boards and committees including the Advisory Committee of the Harvard Change Leadership Group; the Visiting Committee for the Harvard Graduate School of Education; the Southern Education Foundation Board of Trustees; the New American Schools Board of Directors; the board of directors for National Foundation for the Improvement of Education (NFIE); and The New Teacher Project Board of Directors.

While in Memphis, she was a member of the boards of directors of the National Civil Rights Museum and Girls Incorporated of Memphis and was a trustee at Christian Brothers University and Lemoyne-Owen College.

Dr. House was the 1999 AASA National Superintendent of the Year. In 2000, she was the first recipient of the Alumni Leadership Award from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Education. Additional awards and recognitions include: The Harold J. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education Award (1999); The Council of the Great City Schools' Richard R. Green Award (1998); the Tennessee Superintendent of the Year (1998); and the Tennessee Education Association Presidential Merit Award. Dr. House was recently recognized by the Alphi Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Eta Theta Lamba Chapter for her achievements and dedication in educating underserved students.

She was twice named one of “Long Island's Top 50 Women in Business” by Long Island Business News (2005, 2007). She has also been selected Communicator of the Year by the Memphis Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America; “Simply the Best” Chief Executive Officer by the Memphis Black Business directory; and twice named the Executive Educator Magazine's Top 100 Executive Educators in Education. While in Chapel Hill, she received the Phi Delta Kappa Leadership Award; the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce Educator of the Year Award; and the Friend of Education Award by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Association of Educators.

Dr. House is often called upon to be a keynote speaker, to chair panels and committees, and to serve on executive boards.

Dr. House's published works include: “A Bronx Tale: Creating Common Ground for High School Success,” Phi Delta Kappan, January 2007; “Closing the Reality Gap,” American School Board Journal, April 2006; “Reclaiming Children Left Behind: Addressing the Causes and Cures for Low Minority Achievement,” The School Administrator, American Association of School Administrators, January 2005; “Educating All the City's Children: Going to Scale in Memphis, Tennessee – From 3 to 162 Semiautonomous Schools,” in Peter Senge's Schools That Learn, A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone who Cares About Education; “Action Plan for School Restructuring – Memphis City Schools, Memphis Tennessee,” in Phillip C. Schlechty's Inventing Better Schools – An Action Plan for Educational Reform; “Make Your Vision Matter,” in Electronic Learning, March/April 1997; and “Measure What Matters,” Guest Commentator, in FAST COMPANY Magazine, May 1999. Her article, “Guest Viewpoint,” appeared in School Board News, National School Boards Association, November 2002, and is referenced for her work in Memphis in Rosebeth Moss Kanter's book, Confidence (2004).

She is married to Lee A. House, Jr. and is the mother of two grown children.