Dr. Jerrod A. Henderson
Assistant Professor
Dr. Jerrod A. Henderson (“Dr. J”) is an Assistant Professor in the William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston (UH).
He began his higher education pursuits at Morehouse College and North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, where he earned degrees in both Chemistry and Chemical Engineering as a part of the Atlanta University Center’s Dual Degree in Engineering Program. While in college, he was a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, which afforded him the opportunity to intern at NASA Langley. He also earned distinction as a Phi Beta Kappa member and an American Chemical Society Scholar. Dr. Henderson completed his Ph.D. in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. During his time as a graduate student, he was a NASA Harriet G. Jenkins Graduate Fellow and mentor for the Summer Research Opportunities Program.
Dr. Henderson has dedicated his career to increasing the number of students who are in pathways to pursue STEM careers. He believes that exposing students to STEM early will have a lasting impact on their lives and academic pursuits. He is the co-founder of the St. Elmo Brady STEM Academy (SEBA). SEBA is an educational intervention aimed at exposing underrepresented fourth and fifth-grade students and their families to hands-on STEM experiences.
Henderson is the immediate past Director of the Program for Mastery in Engineering Studies (PROMES, pronounced “promise”), a program aimed at increasing engineering student achievement, engagement, and graduation rates. His research interests are in engineering student success among underrepresented students, especially African American males. He was most recently recognized by INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine as an Inspiring STEM Leader, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (LAS) Outstanding Young Alumni Award, and Career Communications Group with a Black Engineer of the Year Award for college-level promotion of engineering education.
The overarching goal of the Henderson Research Group (HRG) is to understand Engineering Identity Development using interpretative qualitative methods. HRG is highly visible in the emerging field of engineering education and has become known as the “trailblazers” for our work broadening participation in engineering using novel methods such as photovoice, a type of participatory action research, and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). HRG has pursued four intertwined thrusts. Thrust 1: Engineering identity success mechanisms. Thrust 2: Investigating experiences of Black male engineering advanced degree seekers. Thrust 3: Engineering identity among young boys of color. Thrust 4: Global Engineering Identity.
- Graduate students:
- Kristin Schaefer
- Abdulmaliq Abdulsalam
- Undergraduate students:
- Myster Battle
- Jared Davis
- Fatima Elmouden
- Eric Sims
- Research Assistant Professor
- David Horton, Jr.
UH Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, 2024
National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2023
Roger Eichhorn Service Award, UH Engineering Alumni Association, 2023 (full story)
Black Engineer of the Year, College-Level Promotion of Education, 2021 (full story)
Science Spectrum Trailblazer Award, BEYA STEM Conference, 2020
Young Alumni Achievement Award by University of Illinois, 2019 (full story)
Regent’s Academic Excellence Award, PROMES, 2018 (full story)
INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine’s 2018 Inspiring STEM Programs, PROMES, 2018 (full story)
INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine’s 2017 Inspiring Leaders in STEM Award, 2017 (full story)
Campus Award for Excellence in Public Engagement, 2015 (full story)
American Society for Engineering Education
National Society of Black Engineers
American Institute of Chemical Engineers
University of Houston, Faculty-In-Residence, Cougar Village II
Selected Publications
- Henderson, J. A., Junqueira, W., Benjamin, L. S. S., Hines, E. M., Alarcón, J. D., Davis, J. L., & Cavazos, S., “Circle of success – An interpretative phenomenological analysis of how Black engineering students experience success.” J. Eng. Ed. 112, 403 – 4017 [https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20509], 2023
- Henderson, J.A., McGowan, B., Wawire, J., Benjamin, L., Schaefer, K., & Alarcón, J.D., “Photovoice: Visualizing the Engineering Identity Experiences of Sophomore Students.” Journal of Engineering Education 112(4), 1145–1166 [https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20555], 2023
- Herrera, L., Schaefer, K. L., Benjamin, L. S. S., & Henderson, J. A., “Flash On: Capturing Minoritized Engineering Students’ Persistence through Photovoice Research.” Sustainability, 15(6), 5311. [https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065311], 2023
- Henderson, J.A., Hines, E. M., Boyce, Golden, M., Singleton II, P., Davis, J.L., Slack, T., & Junqueira, W. M., “Factors Impacting Engineering Advanced Degree Pursuit and Attainment Among Black Males.” Journal of Women & Minorities in Science and Engineering, 28(4), 1-24. [https://doi.org/10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.2021036005], 2022
- Henderson, J.A., Hines, E.M., Davis, J.L., Benjamin, L.S.S., Alarcón, J.D. and Slack, T., "It’s a Vibe: understanding the graduate school experiences of Black male engineering faculty," Journal for Multicultural Education, 17 (1), 1-16. [https://doi.org/10.1108/JME-01-2022-0013], 2022
- Rangel, V.S., Henderson, J.A., Doan, V., Greer, R. & Manuel, M. , "Mentoring roles in an afterschool STEM mentoring program: an investigation of why mentors enact different roles," International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, 11 (4), 364-380. [https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMCE-11-2021-0103], 2022
- Snodgrass Rangel, V., Henderson, J. A., Martinez, C., & Greer, R., . “Student Engagement in an Online Engineering Afterschool Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER), 12(2), Article 1. [https://doi.org/10.7771/2157-9288.1347], 2022
- Henderson, J., Snodgrass Rangel, V., Holly, J., Greer, R., & Manuel, M., ., “Enhancing Engineering Identity Among Boys of Color.” Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER), 11(2), Article 2. [https://doi.org/10.7771/2157-9288.1311], 2021