Carol E. Henderson Senior Adviser to the Provost

Carol E. Henderson, PhD is Senior Adviser to the Provost at Emory University. She previously served as Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Chief Diversity Officer and Adviser to the President at Emory from August 2019 until September 2025, leading the institution’s efforts on inclusive excellence.

Under Henderson’s leadership, Emory achieved significant recognition, including three consecutive Insight into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Awards (2022-2024) and the prestigious Diversity Champion distinction, awarded to less than 20 institutions nationally each year for their “unyielding commitment to diversity and inclusion throughout their campus communities, across academic programs, and at the highest administrative levels.” In June 2023, an aspirational report with key objectives chosen from a list of over 200 recommendations was presented to the community as Towards a More Inclusive Emory: Building Blocks of Transformation.

Prior to Emory, Henderson served as the inaugural Vice Provost for Diversity at the University of Delaware where she led inclusive excellence strategic planning initiatives that earned the university three institutional awards, including the 2017 SHRM D&I Gold Award and two Insight into Diversity HEED Awards in 2017 and 2018. She previously served as the founding chair of the Black American Studies department.

Henderson is an award-winning scholar and administrator with more than 25 years in higher education. Among her accolades include the 2024 Administrator Excellence Award from All Black Emory, 2024 Association of American Universities (AAU) Chief Diversity Officer collective recognition, the 2023 Diamond Award for Excellence in Educational Leadership, Diversity | Equality | Inclusion, Humanitarian & Community Engagement from the Not Alone Foundation, and the 2023 Rising Star Award from the National Association for Diversity Officer in Higher Education (NADOHE). In 2020, Henderson received the Faculty Impact Award for outstanding contributions in higher education by the Women of Color Initiative, Atlanta Collaborative in Higher Education (WOCI).

Henderson is the author/editor of six books, the special issue editor of five journal collections and has published numerous essays. Her recent chapter, “How and When I Enter: Pearls of Wisdom for Courageous Leadership in the Academy,” is published in Dear Department Chair: Letters from Black Women Leaders to the Next Generation (2023). Her edited book, Chief Diversity Officers in Higher Education Today: Narratives of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, was published by Routledge Press in August 2024.

Henderson received her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles and her Master of Arts in English from California State University, Dominguez Hills. She earned her doctorate from the University of California, Riverside. She is Professor Emerita of English and Africana Studies at the University of Delaware.