Katherine Usher Henderson
{{Short description|American college professor (1937–2022)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Katherine Usher Henderson
| image = KatherineUsherHenderson1959.png
| alt = A young white woman with dark hair and light eyes
| caption = Katherine Usher (later Henderson), from a 1959 newspaper
| other_names =
| birth_name = Katherine Ann Usher
| birth_date = {{birth date|1937|6|9}}
| birth_place = Fall River, Massachusetts
| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|7|26|1937|6|9}}
| death_place = California
| education = Connecticut College (BA)
New York University (MA)
Harvard University (MA)
Columbia University (PhD)
| occupation = College professor, college administrator
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
Katherine Ann Usher Henderson (June 9, 1937 – July 26, 2022) was a college professor and administrator. She was president of Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1997 to 2005.
Early life and education
Usher was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, the daughter of Merritt Munroe Usher and Mabel Josephine Reagan Usher.{{Cite news |date=2002-11-15 |title=Usher, Mabel Josephine (Reagan) |pages=155 |work=Hartford Courant |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114069362/usher-mabel-josephine-reagan/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1993-04-29 |title=Obituary for Munroe M. Usher |pages=130 |work=Hartford Courant |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114090443/obituary-for-munroe-m-usher/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |via=Newspapers.com}} She graduated from Connecticut College with a bachelor's degree in 1959, and earned two master's degrees, at New York University and Harvard Graduate School of Education, before completing her doctoral studies in English and comparative literature at Columbia University in 1969.{{Cite web |date=2022-08-18 |title=In Memoriam: Katherine Usher Henderson, 1937-2022 |url=https://www.wiareport.com/2022/08/in-memoriam-katherine-usher-henderson-1937-2022/ |access-date=2022-12-03 |website=Women In Academia Report}}
Career
Usher taught at the College of New Rochelle for 14 years. During her time there, she was dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, and director of the women's studies program.{{Cite news |date=1973-11-06 |title=Named Dean |pages=4 |work=Hartford Courant |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114067556/named-dean/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |via=Newspapers.com}} She was vice president for academic affairs at Dominican University of California. From 1997 to 2005, she was president of Point Park College in Pittsburgh,{{Cite news |date=1996-11-26 |title=Point Park College Names New President |pages=4 |work=Indiana Gazette |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114068515/point-park-college-names-new-president/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |last=Schackner |first=Bill |date=1996-11-26 |title=Official at Calif. college to head Point Park |pages=11 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114056639/official-at-calif-college-to-head/ |access-date=2022-12-03 |via=Newspapers.com}} which became Point Park University during her administration.{{Cite web |last=Collins |first=Dara |date=January 24, 2017 |title=Point Park facility names steeped in university history |url=https://ppuglobe.com/2017/01/point-park-facility-names-steeped-in-university-history/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=Point Park Globe}} She returned to California in 2007, as director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). She retired as director of the OLLI in 2021.{{Cite web |date=August 7, 2022 |title=Katherine Usher Henderson (obituary) |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/marinij/name/katherine-henderson-obituary?id=36162324 |access-date=2022-12-03 |website=Marin Independent Journal, via Legacy.com}}
In 2005, Henderson was named a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania,{{Cite news |date=2005-10-18 |title=Linda McKenna Boxx honored |pages=A1 |work=Latrobe Bulletin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114067157/linda-mckenna-boxx-honored/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |via=Newspapers.com}} with the commendation that "Her distinguished career manifests a strong work ethic, integrity in action and significant leadership in her profession".{{Cite web |title=Katherine Usher Henderson |url=http://www.distinguisheddaughtersofpa.org/Daughters/Katherine-Usher-Henderson/ |access-date=2022-12-03 |website=Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania}}
Publications
- Joan Didion (1981){{Cite book |last=Henderson |first=Katherine U. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/7173862 |title=Joan Didion |date=1981 |publisher=Ungar |isbn=0-8044-2370-9 |location=New York |oclc=7173862}}
- Half Humankind: Contexts and Texts of the Controversy about Women in England, 1540–1640 (1985, with Barbara F. McManus){{Cite book |last=Henderson |first=Katherine U. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/10825104 |title=Half humankind : contexts and texts of the controversy about women in England, 1540-1640 |date=1985 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |others=Barbara F. McManus |isbn=0-252-01169-4 |location=Urbana |oclc=10825104}}
- Inter/View: Talks with America's Writing Women (1990, with Mickey Pearlman){{Cite book |last=Pearlman |first=Mickey |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/900344586 |title=Inter/View : talks with America's writing women |date=2015 |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |others=Katherine U. Henderson |isbn=978-0-8131-5968-3 |location=Lexington |oclc=900344586}}
- Meanings of the Medium: Perspectives on the Art of Television (1990, edited with Joseph Anthony Mazzeo){{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/20012675 |title=Meanings of the medium : perspectives on the art of television |date=1990 |publisher=Praeger |others=Katherine U. Henderson, Joseph Anthony Mazzeo |isbn=0-275-93390-3 |location=New York |oclc=20012675}}
- A Voice of One's Own: Conversations with America's Writing Women (1992, with Mickey Pearlman){{Cite news |date=1992-04-26 |title=A Voice of One's Own (review) |pages=103 |work=Newsday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114067327/a-voice-of-ones-own-review/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Personal life
In 1959, Katherine Usher married F. Tracy Henderson Jr., an investment consultant.{{Cite news |date=1959-01-25 |title=Usher-Henderson |pages=72 |work=Hartford Courant |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114069193/usher-henderson/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |via=Newspapers.com}} They had three children. She died on July 26, 2022, in California.
References
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Category:People from Fall River, Massachusetts
Category:Connecticut College alumni
Category:Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni
Category:Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Category:Dominican University of California faculty