Faculty Profile: Hon. J. Ronnie Greer

J. Ronnie Greer was born July 26, 1952 in Mountain City, Tennessee .  He attended the public schools of Johnson County, Tennessee, received a BS degree from East Tennessee State University in 1974 and received his JD degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1980.  He was admitted to the Bar of Tennessee in 1980.

He served as a special assistant to Governor Lamar Alexander from 1979 to 1980 and engaged in the private practice of law with the Greeneville, Tennessee firm of Hull, Weems, Greer and Charles R. Terry & Associates in 1980-1981.   He temporarily left his law practice fall of 1981 to manage the United States Senate Campaign of United States Congressman Robin Beard and returned to Greene County, Tennessee to practice law in the latter part of 1982.   He continued to be engaged in the private practice of law in Greeneville, Tennessee from that time until June, 2003.

He served as Greene County Attorney from 1985 to 1986 and was a member of the Tennessee Senate from 1986 through 1994.   While a member of the Tennessee Senate, Judge Greer was chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Conservation and Tourism (formerly the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources)and chaired or co-chaired several study committeesincluding a joint legislative study committee to study Tennessee’s solid and hazardous waste problems.  He was the author and prime sponsor of the Tennessee Solid Waste Management Act and was named legislator of the year by the Tennessee Conservation League in 1989 and by the Environmental Action Fund in 1994.  

Judge Greer served before his appointment as United States District Judge as a member of the Local Rules Advisory Committee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and as a member of the Admissions Committee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Northeastern Division.   Judge Greer was appointed as United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee on June 12, 2003 and assumed his duties on June 25, 2003.