Paul H. Henson was an accomplished business and civic leader, visionary and mentor. His achievements were prodigious, and included putting Kansas City in the global forefront of the telecommunications industry.

Henson came to Kansas City to become vice president of United Telecommunications, an international leader in the telecom industry that grew under his leadership to become the Sprint Corporation.  He was Sprint’s chief executive officer from 1966 to 1990. After retiring from Sprint, Henson maintained a diverse and wide-ranging involvement with key civic issues and was a commanding presence and leadership force across the community.

Henson began a long-term partnership with UMKC in 1983 when he joined former Chancellor Dr. George Russell in founding the Computer Science Telecommunications Program at the University.

The Paul H. Henson Lecture Series was established by his wife Betty Henson at UMKC’s School of Computing and Engineering in memory of Henson. This series of annual lectures features accomplished leaders from a broad industry range.