Dr. Gena Humphrey Henderson

Gena Humphrey Henderson, Ph.D., serves as chief of the Modeling & Simulation Branch of Exploration Systems and Operations Division within the KSC Engineering Directorate at John F. Kennedy Space Center. The branch is responsible for providing and building technical competence/expertise in the design, development and operations of models, emulators, and simulations of ground to flight systems of manifested launch vehicles, space technology, and space flight test programs and projects. Engineers provide expertise and leadership in highly-specialized teams to integrate plans and technical requirements for concept development, planning, scheduling, affordability, and sustainability that span the life cycle across complex, multi-systems to meet design and development and operations.

Experience

Prior to this position, Dr. Henderson progressed through several leadership positions at Kennedy. She has served as chief of the Integration Branch within the Systems Engineering Division, chief of the Engineering Management & Integrated Services Branch, program manager for the Agency Lessons Learned Program, mechanical engineer for the Payloads Processing Directorate, quality engineer for the Solid Rocket Booster element of the Space Shuttle Ground Processing Directorate, reliability engineer for the Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate, process engineer for the Independent Technical Authority Office, and human factors engineer for the Systems Management Office.

Awards

With over 25 years of experience in ground and launch processing of space flight systems, Dr. Henderson has served in a leadership capacity on numerous teams and received several awards including exceptional service medal, certificates of commendation and appreciation, and group achievement. In 1995, she was nominated as the Florida Space Coast’s Outstanding Woman Engineer of the Year. In 1997, she was recognized as an Outstanding Young Woman of America. In 1998, she was awarded the James Webb Fellowship from the National Space Act, which afforded her the opportunity to take a sabbatical from work to complete a doctorate in industrial engineering. 

In July 2002, Dr. Henderson received national recognition for the Women of Color in Government and Defense Technology All-Star Award. In January 2006, she was invited to serve on the Reliability and Maintainability Symposium Management Committee, and in February 2008, she served as session chair for the Leading Edges Track at the Project Management Challenge 2008 Conference, NASA’s premiere forum for discussion of current trends in program and project management.

In May 2008, Dr. Henderson received a NASA Exceptional Service Medal for outstanding leadership in directing, planning, developing, and managing implementation of the Agency’s Lessons Learned Process across all ten NASA centers.  She enjoys instructing rising engineers and has been acknowledged by KSC as the Most Supportive Mentor for both 2013 and 2015.  She has been recognized with group achievement honors in 2016 for serving as the KSC’s Human Factors representative for the Agency Capability Leadership Team. In April 2018, Dr. Henderson received FAMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award from the Mechanical Engineering Department of the FAMU/FSU College of Engineering.

Education

Dr. Henderson graduated from Florida State University (FSU) in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science in applied mathematics. In 1992, she graduated from Florida A & M University (FAMU) with a Master of Science in mechanical engineering and became the first student to receive a master’s degree of any engineering discipline in the history of FAMU. In December 2000, she graduated from the University of Central Florida, earning her the distinction of being the first woman of color to receive a Doctor of Philosophy in an engineering discipline from the university.  

Her research includes the topics of computational fluid dynamics in three dimensional flow and hardware, software and human reliability, systems engineering, and human performance modeling. Her education was funded with several scholarships such as the Lockwood Brown scholarship, Naval Oceanographic Scholarship, FAMU Presidential Scholarship, NASA Langley Aerospace Researchers Summer Scholarship, Delores Auzenne Fellowship, and James Webb Fellowship.

She is a talented public speaker and has authored several published articles. She has also developed many engineering practices that have been implemented at the John F. Kennedy Space Center.

Personal

Dr. Henderson is a Florida native and resides in Sanford, Florida, with her husband, Roderick, and their three children: Zahir, Princess, and Zuri.

Biography last updated February 2018