When Henderson made the decision to leave Dominica to pursue higher education, she moved to Florida and enrolled in the University of Miami. A lover of science, her first degree was a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry, and she planned to have a career as a bench scientist, carrying out research in a lab. While enrolled in subsequent master’s degrees in anatomy and public health at Barry University, Henderson was walking through the nursing college at Barry one day and saw a promotion for a nurse researcher on the wall.

“I never knew nursing research was an option, but as I thought about it, I became excited for the opportunities,” Henderson said. “I immediately applied for the Accelerated BSN program and never looked back.”

As a second-career nurse, her first clinical experience was as a neonatal nurse at Baptist Health South Florida. She quickly took on a leadership role responsible for directing and guiding research projects within the health system, as well as her first foray into academia as an associate professor at Chamberlain College of Nursing.

From there, Henderson earned a Master of Science in Nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice and PhD in Nursing. She moved to North Carolina and took the position as the Vidant Health senior systems administrator for research and grants. In this role, she led research and grant administration and facilitation of system-level translational research and clinical trials. She founded the Vidant Health Center for Research and Grants to support research, innovation and grants for the health system, which won a national Innovation in Workforce Award from the Association of Clinical Research Professionals. Her most recent experience was as the assistant vice chancellor, system vice president research officer and clinical integration research officer at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, UNC Health and the UNC – Chapel Hill School of Medicine, serving as the executive leader for the integration of health care operations and clinical research operations throughout the health system, the university and its medical college. Among her many notable achievements at UNC – Chapel Hill, she worked with the executive leadership team to develop and execute interorganizational health care and clinical research strategies, increasing external partnerships by 50% and providing administrative support for grant funding initiatives of more than $100 million in two years.

As the dean, Henderson plans to build on the college’s momentum in education, research and clinical practice. Starting on day one, she began assessing the college’s environment, values and the goals that were set prior to her arrival, in order to be prepared to lead the college through the future.

She aims to fully support both nursing students and professional nurses. For nursing students, she said it is extremely important that the college produces nurses prepared to be effective in health systems and communities starting on their first day. For professional nurses — including UF Health nurses and Gator Nurse alumni — Henderson hopes the UF College of Nursing will be seen as their professional home to receive continuing education, engage in life-changing research opportunities and collaborate on innovative practice models.

“COVID taught us that not preparing effective nurses can be very detrimental,” Henderson said. “It is our duty to help nurses understand the social and political climate they will encounter when they enter the workforce. We must prevent burnout in our profession, and we have the opportunity to do that with our students and also develop support for professional nurses.”

In the research space, Henderson wants the college to collectively determine its premier research funding areas and areas of expertise. She said the college cannot have centers of excellence in everything, but the faculty should narrow down and define the areas that are important to Florida so that the college transforms nursing and health care as a whole.

As the UF Health system chief nurse executive, she has the unique opportunity to bridge the gap between the college and the academic health system.

“The system chief nurse executive is an exciting role because it will open up opportunities to work with the nursing leaders and nursing staff at UF Health on innovative research initiatives in the health care system, in education, as well as practice models. I am very excited about the ability to foster innovation in new ways and look at current problems in different ways,” Henderson said.

David R. Nelson, MD, the senior vice president for health affairs at UF, will work with Henderson to achieve integration and collaboration between the college and the health system.

“I am very excited to have Dean Henderson on board with the College of Nursing and serving as a leader within UF Health,” Nelson said. “It is evident we share a vision for what is possible at UF and UF Health. Dean Henderson embodies the values, passion, knowledge and experience to lead the College of Nursing past traditional boundaries and into the next frontier of transformative health care research, delivery and education.”

Henderson said one of the things that excites her most is the college’s three values of care, lead, inspire. However, with the increasing number and complexity of challenges in health care and academia, she said the college needs to care, lead and inspire more boldly.

“Care, lead and inspire are the three fundamental values to transform nursing and sustain a healthy nursing profession,” she said. “The College of Nursing has already been doing all of the great things we need to do to ‘Go Greater,’ and I’m excited we don’t have to start from scratch. The leaders before me were truly futuristic and set us up with a competitive advantage. We work with dynamic faculty, staff, students and alumni, and the ingredients already exist within each one of them. I’m just excited to be a part of it.”

Ann Horgas, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN, who has been with the College of Nursing for 23 years, recently took the position of interim executive associate dean, which is a role that works hand-in-hand with the dean on the daily operations of the college. Horgas said Henderson’s leadership style is unique and comes at just the right time for Gator Nursing.

“I am delighted that Dean Henderson has joined the College of Nursing,” Horgas said. “In her candidacy presentation, she challenged us to care, lead and inspire boldly. I am excited to see her passion, drive and vision lead us to new heights and toward new models of academic and clinical partnerships. I look forward to supporting her and the college in this mission.”

Henderson moved to Gainesville in January with her husband, Dr. Centelle St. Aimee, who is also from Dominica and specializes in privacy and compliance. Henderson and St. Aimee grew up together on the island and reconnected when she was in school in Miami and he was a student in Oklahoma. The couple were long distance for many years and married in 2012.

Henderson said anyone who knows her knows that she loves to have fun.

“One of the things Gator Nurses need to know about me is that I love to have fun, and I love to smile. I believe this must come from my Caribbean upbringing because in the Caribbean, everything is fine. There are no worries!”

Over the next year, Henderson plans to meet with all faculty, staff and students. Planned regional “Meet the Dean” events will introduce alumni to Henderson so they may learn about her plans for the college and so she may learn and receive feedback from Gator Nurses who are familiar with the college’s history and who work on the frontlines of care delivery.

“Because of the multitude of opportunities to lead, I have developed a leadership style steeped in consensus building and driving change not by force but by attraction,” she said. “I believe that everyone wants to be part of something great. Something bigger than themselves. We are attracted to making a positive impact. We tend to gravitate to that nucleus.”