Terry Knight joined the faculty in 1996, after teaching at the University of California, Los Angeles beginning in 1988. She conducts research and teaches in the area of computational design, with an emphasis on the theory and application of shape grammars. Her book, Transformations in Design, is a well-known introduction to the field of shape grammars. Her recent research includes work on visual-physical grammars: rule-based, customizable building assembly systems that support cultural sustainability through the incorporation of vernacular patterns and local resources. She is also exploring the incorporation of sensory aspects of design, beyond the visual, into grammars.

She has served on the editorial boards of Languages of Design and Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, and has published extensively in these and other design research journals. She holds a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and an MA and PhD in Architecture from the University of California, Los Angeles.