Two Social Science Alumni to be Honored with the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award

August 15, 2022 - Jalen Smith

Annually, Michigan State University recognizes outstanding alumni with its Alumni Grand Awards. This year, the College of Social Science has two of our own that will be recognized with the Distinguished Alumni Award this fall. Harold Henderson (1972) and Theda Skocpol (1969) both will receive the award as a demonstration of their outstanding professional accomplishments in their respective fields. 

Harold Henderson in Fall 2021 Receiving the College of Social Science Distinguished Alumni Award. Harold Henderson is the former NFL Executive Vice President for Labor Relations and Chairman of the Management Council Executive Committee. In 2021, prior to being honored with the University’s distinguished alumni award, the College of Social Science also recognized Harold with the college’s distinguished alumni award (pictured right). In both 2021 and 2022, Harold Henderson served as the guest speaker at our college’s undergraduate commencement ceremony. Harold is the first black police officer in MSU’s police department history.  Additionally, Harold served as the Chief Legal Officer at AMTRAK and spent time serving in the army while working at MSU. You can read more about Harold here. 

Theda SkocpolTheda Skocpol is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University. Theda also was a member of the MSU Honors College and received her undergraduate degree from our college’s Sociology department. 

She has dedicated her life to equity, social justice education and activism. Theda is a supporter of our Social Science Scholars Program and in March, was selected as the college’s Diversity Spotlight feature for Women’s History Month. Our Diversity Spotlight feature is a part of our college’s Diversity Matters Newsletter. Where we highlight the outstanding work members of our Social Science community is doing to enhance Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives across various groups. 

The College of Social Science is so proud to have two outstanding alumni like Harold and Theda represent us as recipients of the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Read more about the Grand Awards here.