Instructor: Dr. Darold Henson

Dr. Darold Leigh Henson, professor of English, has taught in the technical writing program at Missouri State since 1994. He came to Missouri State after teaching high school English for thirty years in Pekin, Illinois. He earned a Ph.D. in English studies at Illinois State University in 1982, where he also earned bachelor's (1964) and master's (1969) degrees in English. His professional experience includes part-time consulting and training as well as freelance writing and editing (seven years). Additionally, he was a founding partner of Technical Publication Associates, Inc., in Morton, Illinois (1990–1993). He left the high school and business worlds for more interesting challenges (but not more lucrative), willing to endure self-imposed exile from the homeland of Lincoln, Sandburg, Masters, Lindsay, and William Maxwell for this purpose.

Since 1990 Dr. Henson has been a senior member of the Society for Technical Communication. He is also a member of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing and the Illinois Association of Teachers of English.

Dr. Henson has published on the theory, practice, and pedagogy of technical communication; rhetoric and composition; the pedagogy of literature; and twentieth-century American literature. His work has appeared in the Illinois English Bulletin, Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, Technical Communication, Technical Communication Quarterly, and the Technical Writing Teacher. The summer, 2005, issue of the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (refereed) will include his article titled “Social Consciousness in William Maxwell's Writings Based on Lincoln, Illinois.” His recent research focuses on exploring and promoting the role of English studies in public affairs, and you will find details about this activity on his research Web page.

After receiving an award for a project that combined scholarly, creative, and low-level technological expertise, he went fishing. He has fifty-five years of experience in freshwater fishing, boating, water skiing (still at it as of the summer of 2005), and camping in the Midwest, but has yet to publish anything about this field work/play.