Distinguished Alum Harold Henderson Visits with MSU Law Students

Sept 23, 2022

Harold Henderson, retired NFL Executive Vice President, former Chief Legal Officer, long-time advocate for the underserved, and a Spartan, came to campus this week to receive a 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award.

Henderson – who holds a B.A. from MSU’s College of Social Science, 1972; a J.D. from Harvard Law School, 1976; and a SEP Stanford School of Business, 1988 – made time for a conversation with MSU Law students.

Have a plan for your career, but also be prepared to take advantage of unanticipated opportunities,” he said. “That’s the story of my life.” 

Taylor Hall, president of the Black Law Student Association, introduced Henderson, who was accompanied by his son, Harold Henderson Jr., Chief of Compliance and Transparency for the National Counterterrorism Center.

“Mr. Henderson had an important message for us,” Hall said. “He said always be prepared for opportunities that you are not expecting. I will always remember him saying how much he enjoyed his work life because he was open to different jobs and was prepared to take a different path.”

Henderson served as Chief Legal Officer at AMTRAK and then as the Executive Vice President for Labor Relations and Chairman of the Management Council Executive Committee for the National Football League.

His long and distinguished career was capped by an annual scholarship program he and his wife created to give students of color opportunities to work as judicial clerks, which significantly advances legal careers.

The Harold & Franzine Henderson Judicial Clerkship Mentoring Program is connected to the American Bar Association’s Judicial Clerkship Program, Judges & Law Students: Building Relationships that Work.

Nationally, diversity among judicial clerks is disproportionately low. The ABA’s Judicial Clerkship Program is comprised of an annual conference that brings judges and students of color together for networking activities, opportunities for students to demonstrate their skills and knowledge and for judges and former judicial clerks to share practical information on how to obtain a clerkship.

The Henderson scholarship sends six MSU Law students each year to the conference. Applications for the 2023 conference will open later this semester. Look for information from the Advancement Office.