TERENCE D. FITZGERALD, as of September 2022, is an internal consultant with the National Council of Mental Wellbeing. He was previously a clinical associate professor of social work at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work at the University of Southern California.

Fitzgerald grew up in Champaign, Illinois, where he graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and earned a bachelor's degree in liberal arts, a master's degree in both school social work and educational leadership, and a doctorate in education policy studies. He is a racial scholar who focuses on racial and economic inequity in public and higher education that targets males of color and low socioeconomic white males.

For 15 years, Fitzgerald first worked at the elementary, middle, and high school levels as a school social worker in racially and economically diverse settings in Illinois. He has also worked with social justice grassroots organizations that focus on marginalized children and families. In addition, he has professional experience with aligning curricula to meet state and federal requirements, program and curriculum evaluation, improving racial climate and curriculum, policies, and program evaluations.   

Examples of his research on racism and gender can be seen in his soon-to-be-released book: Whitered Kings: Hip Hop, Escapism, Racial Oppression, and Drugs, Black Males and Racism: Improving the Schooling and Life Chances of African Americans, and White Prescriptions: The Dangerous Social Potential for Ritalin and other Psychotropic Drugs to Harm Black Males. His expertise can also be found in numerous articles nationally and internationally.