Hon. Robert H. Henry

Robert Henry is the 17th president of Oklahoma City University. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the American Bar Association, serving as Chair of the Middle East and North Africa Council, board member of the Rule of Law Initiative, and was a board member of the Committee for the Africa Law Initiative Council. He is a member of the Judicial Advisory Board of the American Society of International Law. Henry is also a member of the American Law Institute, the Oklahoma Bar Association, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Law and the William J. Holloway Jr. American Inn of the Court, Master of the Court. He has served on the Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Group, the Oklahoma Constitutional Revision Committee and the National Association of Attorneys General (Committees on Agricultural Law, Civil Rights, and Supreme Court Advocacy). 

He returns to OCU after having served as Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Henry has a long-standing relationship with OCU, serving as Dean of the OCU School of Law and tenured Professor of Law from 1991-1994. He taught graduate and undergraduate courses at OCU and has been a frequent guest lecturer. 

Henry has been a lifelong advocate for common and higher education. He co-authored the legislation that established the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics (OSSM), established the Sen. Penny Williams Lecture in Arts and Sciences at OSSM, and established the Henry Family Lecture Series at the University of Oklahoma College of Law and was the co-founder of the Oklahoma Symposium. 

Henry has served on the Court of Appeals for 16 years. Prior to his appointment to the Court by President William J. Clinton, Henry served as Attorney General of the State of Oklahoma. He served ten years as a state representative in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, where he was Chair of the Majority Caucus, and Chair of the Committees on the Judiciary, Common Education and Appropriations and Budget Committee - General Government and Judiciary. 

In addition to teaching at OCU, Henry also taught at the University of Oklahoma Honors College, Oxford Program; University of Oklahoma College of Law, served as Distinguished Judge in Residence, University of Tulsa College of Law and taught Business Law at Oklahoma Baptist University. He was a former chairman of the Board of Trustees of St. Gregory's College. He practiced law in Shawnee, Oklahoma for ten years. 

Henry serves on the Committee on International Judicial Relations of the Judicial Conference of the United States, which he chaired from July 2005 – May 2008. He has also served on the Committee on Codes of Conduct of the Judicial Conference of the United States. He is also a Director and Honorary Lifetime Member of the Tenth Judicial Circuit's Historical Society Committee, and a member of the Tenth Judicial Circuit Court of Appeals Lawyer's Advisory Committee. He serves on the Board of Directors of the VERA Institute of Justice in New York; the Foundation for the Future, based in Amman, Jordan; and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation; on the Board of Visitors of the University of Oklahoma International Programs Center and Honors College; and on the Board of Advisors of the Jasmine Moran Foundation Children's Museum and the Columbia University National State Attorneys General Program. 

The recipient of many honors and awards, Henry was inducted into the 2008 Oklahoma Hall of Fame. He was named "The Honored One," Oklahoma Sovereignty Symposium, Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 2008; received Certificate of Appreciation, US Department of State, 2008 and the Certificate of Gratitude, Council of Judges of the Russian Federation and Justice for substantial contribution to the development of relations between American and Russian Judges. Henry received the Distinguished Alumni award, University of Oklahoma Arts & Sciences, 2004; the E.T. Dunlap Award for Public Service, Southeastern Oklahoma University, 1998; Humanitarian of the Year Award, National Conference of Community and Justice, 1996. In 1993, Henry received the Myrtle Wreath Award for Humanitarianism, Oklahoma City Chapter of Hadassah; Conservationist of the Year, Oklahoma Wildlife Federation, 1989; Oklahoma Human Rights Award, Oklahoma Human Rights Commission, 1988; and Outstanding Young Oklahoman, Oklahoma Jaycees, 1988; the A. C. Hamlin Award, National Black Caucus of State Legislatures, 1984. 

Henry has authored numerous chapters in a variety of volumes including: "Civil Rights Movement" in The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture; "The Rehnquist Court: A Schwartzian Critique," in The Rehnquist Court: Farewell to the Old Order?; and "The Play and The Players," in The Burger Court: Counter-Revolution or Confirmation?. He was the principal author and narrator for the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority's series on arts and culture, "The People's Art," which received "Best of the Best" (program production) and also named 2008's finest news and information program for 2008 by the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA). In addition, Henry has authored scores of law review articles, scholarly journal articles and other published works. Henry serves as outside evaluator, reader, and columnist for World Literature Today Magazine, University of Oklahoma Press, Oklahoma Today, and Oklahoma Gazette. 

Henry is married to Dr. Jan Ralls Henry, an Oklahoma City dentist, who will serve as first lady of Oklahoma City University. President and Dr. Henry reside in Wilson House on the OCU campus. 

He has two children and four stepchildren: Rachel Henry, a recent graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University; Joshua Henry, a junior at OCU; Amie Bostian, a speech therapist in Edmond; Scott Ralls, a graphic designer in Seattle; Greg Ralls, an airline pilot in Edmond; and Daniel Ralls, an architect in Seattle.