Wayne Henson to give MSU-Meridian commencement address

MERIDIAN, Miss.—Wayne Henson, East Mississippi Electric Power Association’s CEO, will be the spring 2016 graduation speaker for Mississippi State University-Meridian.

The May 6 commencement program begins at 11 a.m. at the MSU Riley Center for Performing Arts and Education. Some 110 students are candidates for degrees.

A Kemper County native and longtime Clarke County resident, Henson graduated from Zack Huggins High School in Quitman. He went on to Mississippi State University, where he earned an electrical engineering degree in 1974.

During a more than four-decade-long EMEPA career, he has been CEO for the past 11 years. Along the way, he held positions of planning engineer, assistant director of engineering, assistant manager and general manager. He also owns Meridian-based Engineering Support Services LLC.

Henson is a National Society of Professional Engineers member who has represented Mississippi on its governing board. He also has led the Mississippi Engineering Society.

Henson also serves on numerous boards including The Riley Foundation, East Mississippi Business Development Corp., Southeastern Federal Power Customers, Electric Power Associations of Mississippi, and is a former chairman of the board of the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association.

Henson and wife LaNeta are the parents of two children, Brian and Joy, and have two grandchildren. The couple attends Union Baptist Church in Clarke County, where Wayne leads a Sunday School class and serves as a deacon.