McKinley Henderson to receive honorary degree from Buffalo State

Renowned stage and screen actor Stephen McKinley Henderson will receive a State University of New York (SUNY) honorary degree from Buffalo State University at a ceremony on Wednesday, April 15, at 5:30 p.m. in the Donald Savage Building. The ceremony will be followed by a reception in Moot Hall at 6:15 p.m. and a preview performance of Casting Hall Productions’ Pipeline at 7:30 p.m. in the Flexible Theatre in the Donald Savage Building.

The honorary doctorate degree is the highest form of recognition offered by SUNY to persons of exceptional distinction. Its purpose is to recognize those whose lives and significant achievements are widely known and highly regarded.

McKinley Henderson’s work appears in six Oscar-nominated films: Denis Villeneuve’s DUNE; Denzel Washington’s FENCES (for which Stephen received a Virtuoso Award from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival); Greta Gerwig’s LADY BIRD; Steven Spielberg’s LINCOLN; Kenneth Lonergan’s MANCHESTER BY THE SEA; and Stephen Daldry’s EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE. Noteworthy television work includes A MAN ON THE INSIDE, THE MADNESS, and Halle Berry’s directorial debut, BRUISED, all for Netflix; the FX/HULU series DEVS; WU TANG: AN AMERICAN SAGA; and NEWSROOM for HBO. Recent film work includes Ari Aster’s BEAU IS AFRAID and Alex Garland’s CIVIL WAR. 

McKinley Henderson has worked on stages throughout the United States and abroad. His eight Broadway performances include BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY (Tony nomination for Principal Player); FENCES (Tony nomination for Supporting Actor); A RAISIN IN THE SUN (Tony for Best Revival); and A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2. Off-Broadway roles include LAByrinth Theater Company’s THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT at the Public Theater and Second Stage Theater’s JITNEY (Drama Desk, Obie, and AUDELCO Awards for Outstanding Ensemble). In 2023, the Off-Broadway League honored McKinley Henderson with the Lucille Lortel Lifetime Achievement Award. That same year, the Drama Desk presented him with the Harold Prince Award, “recognizing an individual’s lifetime of outstanding contributions to the theatre.” 

He has earned career achievement awards from the AUDELCO Committee and the National Black Theatre Festival. He received the John Houseman Award from the Acting Company in May 2024, and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame at the Gershwin Theatre in November 2024.

Pipeline—a play by Dominique Morisseau and directed at Buffalo State by Jennifer J. Toohey, associate professor of theater—is the moving story of a mother’s fight to give her son a future without turning her back on the community that made him who he is. 

Pipeline is co-produced by Casting Hall Productions (Buffalo State’s student operated and funded theater production company) and the Buffalo State Theater Department. It runs April 15–19 in the Flexible Theatre on campus. For tickets, please visit the website.

Top photo by Buffalo State Marketing & Communications; headshot courtesy McKinley Henderson.