UTD hires new assistant dean to oversee executive education

by PegNews wire

RICHARDSON — A new assistant dean at the School of Management at The University of Texas at Dallas, Tom Henderson has been hired to help run its "ExecEd" program. As an executive himself, Henderson brings a portfolio brimming with useful resources -- such as fluency in Portuguese and Spanish -- to his new role.

Those deep-rooted language skills derive from his early background; he grew up in São Paulo, Brazil. His career start as a commodities trader in coffee also seems a natural outgrowth of that upbringing.

But Henderson switched to academia after six years as a trader, and his expertise now lies in knowing the dollars -- and sense -- of marketing a business school. For the school’s executive education area, he specializes in establishing and maintaining corporate relationships, while focusing upon advanced learning.

“You must get connected and stay connected, in part to serve the education needs of students who some day may be working for these companies,” Henderson says, “but also to serve the executive education needs that companies have.”

The executive education area includes an EMBA program that the London-based Financial Times ranked No. 1 in Texas and No. 14 in the nation. Exec Ed, as it is informally known, also offers four other graduate degree-granting programs as well as myriad professional development options and custom classes. The area has a bilateral focus: Experienced professionals enroll to learn skill sets and gain knowledge that will advance their careers; organizations work hand in hand with Exec Ed faculty and experts to design, develop, and deliver customized courses and programs to their employees.

“My job is to establish strong partnerships with companies in the region to help bridge their learning and development needs,” Henderson says.

Since his June arrival, Henderson has been working with a software technology company in Richardson to set up a customized program for professionals transitioning from management to leadership. The program will include finance for non-financial executives, cross-cultural leadership, essential aspects of effective leadership, and a culminating business-case simulation. The program will be delivered one day every other week with an action learning component designed to allow participants to apply what they learn in their actual business environment.

Henderson’s background in executive education includes past posts at the University of Wisconsin School of Business, the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona, and the New York City-based American Management Association.

Henderson has worked throughout Latin America. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y., and a Master of Science degree in international management from Boston College. He also completed courses in money and banking, international banking and international economics at the New York Institute of Finance.

Source: UTD