Dr. Malik S. Henfield is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Research, and Faculty Advancement in the School of Education at the University of San Francisco, where he is also a Full Professor in the School Counseling Program. He received a B.A. in Biology from Francis Marion University, a M.Ed. and Ed.S. in K-12 School Counseling from The University of South Carolina, and a Ph.D. in Counselor Education from The Ohio State University.
During his undergraduate studies, Dr. Henfield was named to the Francis Marion University President’s List (Fall 1993). He was also awarded the Lambda Lambda Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated, Omega Man of the Year Award for his continued service to the university and community in 1997 and again during his tenure as Basileus in 1998.
Shortly after graduation from the University of South Carolina's school counseling program, Dr. Henfield took a professional school counseling position at Blackville-Hilda Junior High School, located in Blackville, South Carolina. In addition to this position, Dr. Henfield gained professional experience counseling multicultural gifted students as an academic counselor for the Center for Talented Youth (CTY)—a world renowned gifted education program—at their flagship site, Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Maryland.
While enrolled as a Ph.D. student in the Counselor Education program at The Ohio State University, Dr. Henfield was awarded the F.P. and G.K. Gross Academic Scholarship. He also had the distinction of being named a National Holmes Scholar as well as the Counselor Education program’s Outstanding Doctoral Student for the 2005-2006 school year.
Dr. Henfield has also published multiple scholarly manuscripts and books, and delivered numerous national, regional, state, and local keynote addresses & professional presentations. His scholarship situates Black students' lived experiences in a broader ecological milieu to critically explore how their personal, social, academic and career success is impeded and enhanced by school, family and community contexts. His work to date has focused heavily on the experiences of Black students formally identified as gifted/high-achieving while his latest projects focus more exclusively on developing, implementing, and evaluating in- and out-of-school interventions associated with developing Black students ready to succeed in college and careers. As a counselor educator, Professor Henfield also has a fundamental belief in mental health as a key component in meeting students' needs and is, therefore, committed to diversifying the counseling profession as a means to help the profession better reflect current demographics. To that end, he also researches underrepresented students' (Black and international students) experiences in counselor training programs as a means to uncover the connection between programmatic factors and positive student outcomes and experiences, which has direct implications for increased diversity in the counseling profession. He has consulted on these topics at Atlanta Public School District, Baltimore City Public School District, Oakland Unified School District, and San Francisco Unified School District, and many other school districts and community stakeholders across the country on topics related to his scholarly interests.
Over the years, Dr. Henfield has been widely recognized for his scholarship and service including winning the American Education Research Association (AERA) Division E Research Paper of the Year Award, the Chi Sigma Iota International Honor Society's Outstanding Article Award, and the Outstanding Research Award from the North Central Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (NCACES). In terms of leadership recognition, he was named an Emerging Leader by the Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) International Education Association, a Young Academic Fellow by the Institute for Higher Education and the Lumina Foundation, and was elected Chair of one of AERA's largest Special Interest Groups (SIG), the Critical Examination of Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender in Education SIG.