Vincent D. Murray
Principal
Henry W. Grady High School

Vincent D. Murray has been principal of Henry W. Grady High School in Atlanta, GA since 1991. Under Dr. Murray's leadership this inner-city public school has been transformed into a higher achieving institution in which graduation and college-going rates consistently have risen above the district and state averages.

Sixty-six percent of Grady High students are African American and 44 percent qualify for free or reduced price lunch. When Murray joined Grady High, more than a third of all freshmen were held back and repeated their freshmen year. The student body's passing rate on the Georgia graduation test was far below the statewide average.

Murray has been consistent in his efforts and focused on innovative reform. The result is that today, four out of every five graduates go directly on to college or university, including Ivy League institutions. Average scores on the graduation test, SAT and Advanced Placement exams exceed district, state and national averages. Graduation rates have risen 38 percentage points for African-American students (to 84 percent), 26 points for economically disadvantaged students (to 86 percent) and 25 points for white students (to 97 percent). As a result of Murray's success in transforming Grady High, the U.S. Department of Education recognized him in 2000 with the Department's Title I Distinguished School Award. In 2006, the governor of Georgia named him a High Performance Principal, a top honor in the state.

Murray is on the board of directors at the Grady Foundation and is adjunct professor at Central Michigan University, Atlanta. Prior to his appointment as principal of Grady High, Murray was principal of Herndon Elementary School and a behavior disorders teacher at Grove Park Elementary School, both in Atlanta. He also held the positions of assistant professor and director of the counseling center at Morehouse College.

Murray has a bachelors of arts degree in history and English from Morehouse College, a masters of arts degree in early childhood education from the University of Georgia, and a doctorate in psychology/learning disabilities from Boston University. He has pursued post-doctoral studies at Clark-Atlanta University and Georgia State University.