Robert H. Henry

Position: Chair of Advisory Board Emeritus

Robert H. Henry is Chair of Advisory Board Emeritus of National Litigation Law Group’s Advisory Committee.  In this role he provides counsel on ethical matters and best practices for serving our clients.  He also leads the initiative to build this advisory committee with similarly accomplished individuals.

Judge Henry brings immense experience gained through his distinguished career on the bench and in public service.  He is currently president emeritus of Oklahoma City University where he served as president from 2010 until 2018.  Prior to serving as OCU’s president, he was a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, having been appointed to that position in 1994 by former President Bill Clinton.  He served as chief judge of the Circuit from 2008 until June of 2010, when he left to become president of OCU.  Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Henry was dean and professor of law at Oklahoma City University School of Law from 1991 to 1994. Judge Henry also served as Attorney General of Oklahoma from 1987 until 1991 and served in the Oklahoma State House of Representatives from 1976 to 1986.

Judge Henry has offered his time and talent to numerous public, private and nonprofit organizations throughout his career.  He currently serves on the board of Devon Energy Corporation.  He earned a bachelor’s degree with high honors from the University of Oklahoma and a juris doctorate degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law.  Judge Henry has received honorary doctorates from The University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, The University of Tulsa and Oklahoma City University.

GOVERNMENT POSITIONS AND SERVICE:

  • United States Courts:
  • Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit 1994-2010
  • Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit 2008-2010
    • Chair, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Lawyer’s Advisory Committee
    • Director, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Historical Society Committee
  • Member, U. S. Judicial Conference Committee on International Judicial Relations 2005-2010
  • Member, Judicial Conference of the United States (JCUS) 2008-2010
  • Member, JCUS Committee on the Code of Conduct
  • Named by U. S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist as Chair 2005-2008
  • Served as part of a six-member delegation, led by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, which represented the United States Judiciary at the Arab Judicial Forum, which included jurists and clerics from seventeen Arab nations (Manama, Bahrain 2004).
  • National Association of Attorneys General 1986-1991
    • Chair, Committee on Agricultural Law
    • Chair, Committee on Civil Rights
    • Member, Supreme Court Advocacy Committee
  • Attorney General of Oklahoma (re-elected without opposition) 1987-1991
  • Chair, Oklahoma Constitutional Revision Commission 1991-1992

OKLAHOMA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

  • State Representative, House Dist. 26 (re-elected four times w/o opposition) 1976-1986
    • Chair, Majority Caucus
    • Chair, Committees on the Judiciary, Common Education, and the Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on General Government and the Judiciary

ACADEMIC POSITIONS:

  • Dean and Professor of Law, Oklahoma City University School of Law, 1991-1994
  • Distinguished Judge in Residence, University of Tulsa College of Law, 1996-1997
  • President and C.E.O., Oklahoma City University, 2010 – 2018
  • President Emeritus, Oklahoma City University, 2018-present
  • Visiting Professor, University of Oklahoma Honors College, Bracenose College, Oxford
  • (Two summers in Law; three summers in Liberal Arts)
  • Lecturer in Business Law, Oklahoma Baptist University, 1978-1980
  • Director, Chairman, & Emeritus Chairman, Board of St. Gregory’s College, 1980-1989
  • Lecturer in Political Science, Oklahoma City University, 1993, 2012
  • Member, Board of Advisors, National State Attorneys General Program, Columbia Law School 1993- 2003

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

  • Devon Energy (Member: Audit Committee, Governance Committee) 2011 – Present
  • Greater Oklahoma City Chamber
  • Allied Arts OKC
  • AMAR International Charitable Foundation in the USA (Washington, D.C.)
  • iCivics
  • Jasmine Moran Foundation Children’s Museum
  • Oklahoma Hall of Fame
  • Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
  • State Fair of Oklahoma

BAR AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES – PRESENT:

  • Council on Foreign Relations
  • Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States
  • Bar of the United States Court of Appeal for the Tenth Circuit
  • Bars of the United States District Courts for the Western, Northern, and Eastern Districts of Oklahoma
  • American Bar Association
    • Oklahoma Fellow of the American Bar Association (lifetime)
    • ABA Rule of Law Initiative, Inaugural Chair of the ABA’s Middle East/North Africa Council
    • Special Advisor to the Middle East and North Africa Law Initiative Council
    • Member, American Bar Association Committee for State Justice Initiatives
  • Oklahoma Bar Association
  • American Law Institute
  • Alpha Chi National College Honor Scholarship Society, Member
  • Phi Beta Kappa, Alumni Member

BOARD OF DIRECTORS – PREVIOUS SERVICE:

  • VERA Institute of Justice (Trustee, New York City)
  • Boys Scouts of America, Last Frontier Council
  • Creative Oklahoma
  • Foundation for the Future (Amman, Jordan); U.S. Representative, succeeding Sandra Day O’Connor
  • LSB Industries, Inc. (Lead Director; Member Governance Committee) National Advisory Council for the Heard Museum of Native Cultures & Arts (Phoenix)
  • Oklahoma Conference for Community and Justice, formerly Oklahoma Conference of Christians and Jews (OCCJ), Oklahoma City Region – President
  • Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation
  • Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence
  • Oklahoma Nature Conservancy
  • University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Board of Visitors
  • University of Oklahoma International Programs, Chairman, Board of Advisors
  • University of Oklahoma Honors Program, Board of Visitors

BAR AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES – PREVIOUS:

  • American Society of International Law (ASIL) Advisory Board, Judicial Outreach Program, Institute on International Law in Public Affairs
  • Federal Judges Association
  • Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Group, W.D. Oklahoma
  • Phi Delta Phi

SELECTED ACADEMIC LECTURES / PRESENTATIONS:

  • Stroock Energy Conference, “Emerging Energy Industry Developments,” Association of the Bar of the City of New York, November 18, 2014
  • Thomas E. Bellavance Honors Program Lecture Series “Banning Foreign Law in a State Near You? Legal Difficulties, Practical Problems,” Salisbury University, March 27, 2014
  • Brennan Lecture “How Do You Solve a (Non) Problem like Sharia?,” The Brennan Center for Justice, New York University School of Law, September 24, 2013
  • Mark Robinson Lecture “Doing Justice: Postcards from the Lobby to the Limestone Palace,” School of Law, University of California at Irvine, April 18, 2011
  • Pedrick Lecture “In Praise of Retaliation,” Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University, March 3, 2011
  • James Madison Lecture “Living Our Traditions,” New York University School of Law, October 12, 2010
  • Goldberg Lecture, “‘A Decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind’ Sometimes Requires a Second Look: Musings on Medellin, Federalism, and International Obligations,” Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, February 24, 2009
  • University of Oklahoma College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumni FOCAS Lecture “Gods and Governments,” February 26, 2004
  • An Independent Judiciary: “A Necessity for the Rule of Law,” delivered to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus, (1996), sponsored by the American Bar Association (ABA) and Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (CEELI) International Conference
  • “Shakespeare and the Law: A Conversation Among Disciplines and Professions,” served as a contributor for discussion on panel.  Bradin Cormack, Martha C. Nussbaum & Richard Strier. The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London, 2013.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND:

  • University of Oklahoma, B.A., with high honors, 1974
  • University of Oklahoma College of Law, J.D., 1977
  • University of Tulsa, Doctor of Humane Letters Degree, Honoris causa, 2006
  • Oklahoma City University, Doctor of Laws Degree, Honoris causa, 2000
  • University of Oklahoma, Doctor of Humane Letters Degree, Honoris causa, 2017
  • Oklahoma State University, Doctor of Laws Degree, Honoris causa, 2018