Terry Scherling, Retired Major General, received the NDSU Alumni Achievement Award

 

Retired Maj. Gen. Terry L. Scherling
B.S. 1977, physical education
and health education
Honorary doctorate 2008
President and CEO, TENICA and Associates

NDSU alumna Terry (Schroeder) Scherling has a rare combination of 40 years of military, civil service and entrepreneurial success as a business owner. Her expertise comes from outstanding military and civil service careers, where she attained the rank of major general and in addition, was a member of the senior executive service. Key military assignments included serving as the assistant to the chief and director of the Joint Staff for the National Guard Bureau; and military adviser to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of Defense for homeland defense and domestic military operations. She served as both the intelligence liaison and as the director of strategic initiatives for Aviation Operations, both senior executive positions with the Transportation Security Administration.

Scherling, BS '77, physical education and health education, honorary doctorate ’08, also earned a master’s degree in 1996 in national resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University. In 2000, she became a Seminar XXI Fellow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

She is a board member for Intelligent InSites, a leading health care software company, and on the military advisory board for FLIR, a global sensor system company.

"Terry's diverse career has spanned state and national military organizations, entrepreneurial business start-up and ownership roles, and board member appointments in the private and public sector," wrote nominator Sandy Fiechtner, owner of Sandy Fiechtner Consulting and an NDSU alumna, noting she met Scherling on the NDSU campus in 1973. "She stood out as a leader from the beginning … Terry is truly one of our finest NDSU alumni."

In a letter of support, retired Gen. Craig R. McKinley, former chief of the National Guard Bureau and president and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association, wrote, "Terry is a knowledgeable, articulate and versatile leader, team builder and professional."

Retired Maj. Gen. Paul A. Weaver, who is the former director of the Air National Guard, wrote, "There is no finer officer that I had the pleasure working with and for than Terry Scherling. She does not only do NDSU proud, but all who have served with her and all Americans everywhere."

Scherling’s awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters and the Army Commendation Medal. She also received the National Guard Bureau’s highest award, the Distinguished Service Award. Maj .Gen. Scherling retired from the military service 2009 and civil service in 2008.

Currently, Scherling is founder, president and CEO of TENICA and Associates, a national defense, homeland and cyber security services and consulting firm in Alexandria, Virginia. Since its inception in 2008, TENICA has grown to more than 90 employees in 37 states, territories and the District of Columbia. In 2015, Inc. 500 recognized TENICA as No. 2 on its list of the 10 fastest growing women-led companies in Washington, D.C. and as No. 24 on its list of the 50 fastest-growing women-led companies in the Unites States.

Scherling visits family and friends in North Dakota and Minnesota often and makes her home in Alexandria.