Jerrod A. Henderson, Ph.D., (“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 serves as the Faculty-in-Residence (FIR) for Cougar Village II.

Henderson began his higher education pursuits at Morehouse College and North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, where he earned degrees in 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, allowing him to intern at NASA Langley. He also earned distinction as a Phi Beta Kappa member and an American Chemical Society Scholar. Henderson completed a doctorate degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As a graduate student, he was a NASA Harriet G. Jenkins Graduate Fellow and mentor for the Summer Research Opportunities Program.   

Henderson has dedicated his career to increasing the number of students who are on 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 co-founded the St. Elmo Brady STEM Academy (SEBA). SEBA is an educational intervention and research project that introduces 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 the engineering identity development of Black men throughout lifespans, engineering student success mechanisms, and graduate school/career trajectories of underserved students. 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, Career Communications Group with a Black Engineer of the Year award for college-level promotion of engineering education and a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award.