Academic Improvement Center

Who We Are

Michael Leonard, Ph.D.

Mike earned a bachelor's  degree in geophysics from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of California at Berkeley, and was awarded the departmental citation for the highest academic achievement among his graduating class.  He then stayed on at Berkeley to earn a doctorate in geophysics, a State of California Teaching Credential in math and science, and a wife, Terri.  Prior to opening Academic Improvement Center, Mike divided his time as a research scientist, consultant, and educator and has been a classroom teacher up to the college level.

Teresa Leonard, M.D.

Terri graduated phi beta kappa and summa cum laude from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in psychology, a State of California Teaching Credential in math and science, and a husband, Mike.  She then dropped out of U.C. Berkeley's Bolt Law School to attend medical school at U.C. Davis, graduatiing at the top of her class. Upon graduation she was persuaded by her husband to abandon medicine and join him in a blossoming business he had recently started.  Terri has also worked as a classroom teacher in math and science at the middle school and high school levels.

                                        "Mom & Pop" Leonard  

Our Business

Academic Improvement Center opened in 1997 and has since served hundreds of students from Davis and surrounding communities.  Both Mike and Terri ventured off prior career paths to pursue the opportunity to work full-time together at a job they both find extremely rewarding.

For many of our students, our office becomes a school away from school, where they find they have one more teacher who can fill in the instructional holes for just about all of their classes.  Though by no means required, most students remain with us through high school, allowing us to foster long-term mentoring relationships.