Henry Frierson

Henry “Hank” T. Frierson is Professor Emeritus of Research and Evaluation Methodology in the College of Education and Courtesy Professor in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida. He served as Associate Vice President and Graduate School Dean at UF from 2007 to 2021. Before UF, he was at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) for 33 years, initially as an assistant professor in Medical Education at the School of Medicine and later was the founding director of the Learning and Assessment Laboratory, an academic support unit for medical and other health professional students. He instituted collaborative and cooperative learning approaches to enhance students’ academic performances and professional licensing examination scores. At the UNC School of Medicine he rose to full professor and an Assistant Dean, after which he became Assistant Dean in the UNC-CH Graduate School. After 6 years he transitioned to the School of Education where he was Professor of Educational Psychology for 11 years. There, he was the founding Director of the Research Education Support Program, a large multi-funded initiative to provide support for underrepresented racial and ethnic students to engage in research and provide funding for Ph.D. students to complete their research and dissertations.

Henry received his bachelor's and master’s from Wayne State University in psychology and educational psychology, respectively. After his undergraduate degree he taught science and math in grades 4 and 5 in Detroit during a time of a severe teacher shortage. Because of his love for teaching he obtained an M.Ed. in educational psychology and subsequently a Ph.D. in educational psychology at Michigan State University in 1974. He is an American Education Research Association Fellow and is recognized for developing and advancing the concept of culturally responsive program evaluation, having published several edited volumes in that area. Currently, he and three younger colleagues are developing a culturally responsive evaluation and research handbook for Oxford University Press. His edited volume, Voices of Black Graduate School Deans in Advancing Graduate Education, was recently published.

Henry and his wife Wendolyn Frierson have a son, a daughter, and seven grandchildren. His oldest grandson, Khaalil, is a double Gator, receiving his bachelor’s and master’s at UF. Hank enjoys his grandchildren, gatherings with his friends, mentoring students and younger faculty, traveling and eating good food regardless of where he can find it.