Alan Henderson from Jackson Hole, WY, Class of 1968, and a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, will receive the Lifetime Alumni Achievement Award given at a special Alumni Honors Convocation Ceremony to be held at 10:30 a.m., April 23, during Alumni Weekend in the Church of St. Mary, Aldermanbury on the Westminster College campus in Fulton, MO.
Henderson is the retired President and CEO of RehabCare Group, Inc., the leading provider of physical, occupational and speech-language rehabilitation services in 47 states.
The Lifetime Alumni Achievement Award is presented annually to alumni whose accomplishments reflect the Westminster mission and who have distinguished themselves through personal achievements, professional achievements and /or have made significant contributions to society. The award is approved by the Alumni Council and requires a motion and vote from the Board of Trustees for approval. Up to six alumni can receive the award annually.
“In 1975 I took a three year “sabbatical” and tried out retirement, just as a hedge in case I didn’t live to retirement age, and went to work for a ski lift operator in Utah, which amounted to free skiing with paid warmup breaks and a whole lot of snow shoveling,” says Henderson. “When I married my wife Vicki and resumed productive work, I recognized that for me, work became a way to support my life, not a way of life. I worked hard to reach the point where I didn’t have to work anymore, and retired at 57 and moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. For the past 13 years I have been a happy ski bum again. Be careful what you wish for. Things have a way of becoming reality.”
Henderson took RehabCare public in 1992 and grew the company from $40 million annual revenues to over $500 million in revenues before retiring in 2003. In 2001, RehabCare stock was the best performing stock for that year of all New York Stock Exchange listed stocks.
While on the Reinsurance Group of America board, where he serves as Chairman of the Finance, Investment and Risk Management Committee, he has seen the company grow to be the largest life reinsurer in North America and the third largest in the world, with annual revenues in excess of $10 billion.
He has served on the Corporate Partners Board of the St. Louis Arts Museum, as well as on the boards of the Greater St. Louis Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and Fair St. Louis Foundation. He chaired the board of the Boys and Girls Club of St. Louis. He also served on Westminster’s Board of Trustees from 2001 to 2011.
Brother Henderson’s grandfather, Elmer C Henderson (Westminster 1892), was the 17th President of Phi Delta Theta’s General Council.
Founded in 1851, Westminster College (Fulton, MO) is one of the top liberal arts colleges in America, according to all major educational ranking firms including U.S.News & World Report, Forbes magazine, The Princeton Review and Washington Monthly. The U.S. Department of Education Scorecard and national ranking service Niche.com have both recently placed Westminster in the top five of Missouri colleges and universities and SmartAsset.com ranks Westminster in the Missouri top five for high starting salaries for college graduates. This selective college for men and women is an 86-acre residential campus in Fulton, MO. Westminster is a challenging academic environment where students are educated to lead and inspired to achieve. Ninety-six percent of Westminster graduates start their first job or enroll in graduate or professional schools within six months of graduation.
