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