Carol E. Henderson

Carol E. Henderson joined Emory in 2019 as vice provost for diversity and inclusion, chief diversity officer, and adviser to the president. Prior to her arrival, she had a long and distinguished record of service in teaching, administration, and research at the University of Delaware, where she joined the faculty in 1995.

Henderson served as chair of the Department of Africana Studies and professor of English and Africana studies at Delaware. Appointed the university’s first vice provost for diversity in 2014, she developed and led the implementation of Inclusive Excellence: An Action Plan for Diversity, an initiative that helped promote a welcoming and inclusive campus climate and for which Delaware received a Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from INSIGHT into Diversity magazine in both 2017 and 2018. Henderson was a co-recipient of the 2017 Diversity and Inclusion Gold Award from the Delaware Society for Human Resource Management as well.

At Emory, her office will focus in the immediate term on developing a community vision to address the three themes persistent in campus listening sessions during her time here: climate and culture practices that lead to real inclusion; professional development and education awareness around intercultural competencies in classrooms, curricula, and workspaces; and better accountability mechanisms.

Henderson holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California–Los Angeles, an MA from California State University, Dominguez Hills, and a PhD from the University of California–Riverside.