John F. Henning

John Francis "Jack" Henning (November 22, 1915 – June 4, 2009) was an American labor leader and civil servant who served as director of the California Department of Industrial Relations from 1959 to 1962, under secretary of labor from 1962 to 1967, U.S. ambassador to New Zealand from 1967 to 1969, and executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation from 1970 to 1996. Called "one of organized labor's greatest leaders" and "legendary" for his defense of labor, His maternal grandfather was a member of Teamsters Local 85, one of the oldest Teamsters locals in the West.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in English literature from Saint Mary's College of California, Henning took a position with the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists in San Francisco in 1938, and in 1949 began working for the California Labor Federation (CLF) (the official American Federation of Labor organization in California) as administrative assistant to the Executive Secretary-Treasurer.

In 1997, St. Mary's College of California created the Henning Institute to encourage and present scholarship on Catholic social thought.

John Henning died at his home in San Francisco on June 4, 2009, in his sleep after a long illness.

He received honorary doctorates from Saint Anselm College, St. Bonaventure University, and St. Mary's College of California.