Founder and chief director of the National Black Theatre, Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, was born in East St. Louis, Illinois on June 18, 1937 to a family of educators and leaders in the field of community development.  After graduating magna cum laude with a degree in dance education from the University of Illinois, Teer moved to New York City and began her career as an actress, dancer, and director.

In the 1960s, Teer left her lucrative show business career and began teaching young people at Harlem's Wadleigh Junior High School.  Her teaching methods helped to develop the Group Theatre Workshop, which became foundation for the world renowned Negro Ensemble Company.  In 1968, she founded the National Black Theatre with the mission of maintaining and developing African American cultural traditions.  In 1983, Teer expanded the purpose and vision of the National Black Theatre by purchasing a 64,000 square foot city block of property on 125th Street and Fifth Avenue creating the first revenue generating black art complex in the country which houses several entrepreneurial businesses.

In May 1994, Teer received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Rochester, New York, and in 1995 she received her second honorary doctorate degree of humane letters from the University of Southern Illinois.

Teer is included in Who's Who Worldwide, which recognizes her as a global business leader and has received more than sixty awards and citations. Dr. Teer is the mother of two children; her son Michael F. Lythcott is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University's Business School and her daughter, Barbara A. Lythcott, is a graduate of New York University.