Eric Henson

Eric Henson is a Lecturer in Urban Planning and Design at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design (GSD), affiliated with the Department of Urban Planning and Design. He concurrently serves as Executive Vice President at Compass Lexecon, an economics consulting firm. Henson is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and has been a research fellow with the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development since 1998, actively evaluating tribal governance practices through the Honoring Nations awards program.

Education:

• Master’s Degree in Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
• MA in Economics, Southern Methodist University
• BBA in Business Economics, University of Texas at San Antonio

Research & Teaching: Henson specializes in Native American tribal governance, economic development, and sovereignty. He teaches Native Americans in the Twenty-First Century (cross-listed across Harvard’s Kennedy School, Graduate School of Education, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Chan School of Public Health), focusing on sovereignty, tribal finances, land rights, and nation-building. His research emphasizes applied solutions for Indigenous communities, including his Master’s thesis on the Crow Reservation’s economic development through a uniform commercial code.

Labs & Contributions: Co-author of The State of the Native Nations (Oxford University Press), Henson has provided congressional testimony on tribal governance and collaborates with tribal communities through GSD’s community-based research initiatives.