Henry Meares honored with Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Lifetime Achievement Award

Meares joined the faculty of the SOE in 1993 as an instructor and director of field services; from 1995 to 1996 he served as the director of teacher and administrator certification services; and from 1996 to 2001 he served as director of the Office of Student Services. He was appointed assistant dean in 1998—a position he has now held for nearly 25 years. Since 2021, he has been interim chief diversity officer for the SOE during a critical strategic planning and assessment year for both the school and the university. 

Meares’ expertise includes elementary and middle school curricula and school administration, school planning and improvement strategies, school reconstruction and organizational change. He supports SOE’s goal to recruit, retain, and support a more diverse student body; develops and maintains partnerships and collaborations with outside constituents; and works with the dean on special projects involving K-16 schools, teachers and students.

Meares has led the Annual Children and Youth MLK Program for 24 years. The program draws students from Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Detroit schools, as well as those far beyond the region. The MLK programs have featured the Mosaic Youth Choir, spoken word open mics, and 58 Green, U-M’s premier multicultural, co-ed a cappella group, among many other performers, storytellers, and speakers. 

Meares led the Detroit Schools-Higher Education Consortium, a strategic research-practice partnership funded by the Ford Foundation with representatives from Detroit Public Schools, the SOE, and six other university schools of education in Southeast Michigan that prepare PreK-12 educators. The Consortium provided research and technical assistance to community organizations and schools engaged in expanding equitable, high-quality learning and education opportunity. They built capacity for research support for reform efforts by community-based organizations working in collaboration with Detroit schools; developed databases for assessment and evaluation studies; and developed partnership agreements and strategies for providing research support for projects designed to improve education in Detroit’s schools. 

Meares’ dedication to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion is also evident through his work to engage with and recruit from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other minority-serving institutions. He creates institutional partnerships and builds mentorship relationships with the students he recruits.

Broadly, his work serves an incredible need in our society to encourage and support Black males in their pursuit of education careers. He continues this work as advisor for the Black Male Roundtable group in the SOE.