Dan Fenno Henderson


Dan Fenno Henderson was a university professor who established the Asian law program at the University of Washington.

Biography

Henderson was born in 1921 in Chelan, Washington. He attended Whitman College in Walla Walla. He graduated in 1944 as Phi Beta Kappa. He was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was given a choice on whether to learn Chinese or Japanese; he chose to learn Japanese. He attended the U.S. Army Japanese Language School, located at the University of Michigan. At the university he received a bachelor of arts degree in Oriental Studies in 1945. By the time he arrived in Japan, World War II had ended. Under Douglas MacArthur he became the head of censorship of the Army force occupying Hokkaido. After he finished his military service, under the GI Bill, Henderson attended the Harvard Law School. After graduating from there in 1949, he attended the University of California, Berkeley. In 1955 he graduated with a doctorate.
Henderson taught at the University of Washington School of Law from 1962 to 1991. Henderson authored and coauthored ten significant books related to Japanese law, and he wrote almost 100 articles and other works. Daniel Harrington Foote, author of Law in Japan: A Turning Point, said "These works have had a tremendous impact on scholars and practitioners alike."
Henderson established the Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal.
Henderson died on March 14, 2001 in Seattle.

Publications