Ron Henderson, a professor at the College of Architecture at Illinois Tech, has been nominated for a prestigious role as a distinguished visiting professor at Tsinghua University College of Architecture in Beijing. Despite this new appointment, Henderson will maintain his position at Illinois Tech.

Henderson's relationship with Tsinghua University dates back to 2005. Founded in 1911, Tsinghua is renowned for housing China's oldest School of Architecture. Before joining Illinois Tech in 2015, Henderson was instrumental in establishing Tsinghua's Department of Landscape Architecture and became the first non-Chinese citizen to serve as full-time faculty within the School of Architecture. He also played a key role as the founding vice chair and director of the urban design sequence for the English Program Master of Architecture, which was China's inaugural graduate architecture degree program tailored for non-Chinese citizens.

Henderson remarked on his new role by stating: “The appointment solidifies existing or recent research, design studio, visiting faculty and scholars, and conference collaborations.” He expressed hopes that this recognition would further enhance efforts related to alumni engagement, recruitment, exchanges, philanthropy, collaboration, and the advancement of knowledge through teaching and research.