John M. Hennessy

John M. (Jack) Hennessy is an American financier and philanthropist. The son of John F. Hennessy and Octavia Tanksley, he was born on May 5, 1936, in Boston, Massachusetts.

He was educated at the Roxbury Latin School, Harvard University (where he graduated magna cum laude), and the MIT Sloan School of Management. He and his wife, Margarita, divide their time among Nassau, Bahamas, London, England, where their daughter and son-in-law live, and Tuxedo Park, New York, where their son, daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren live.

Career

Citibank After college in 1958, Hennessy joined The First National Citibank, working in New York and South America. He eventually became the head of the bank's West Coast of S.A. operations centered in Lima, Peru at the age of 28.''

The U.S. Treasury

After returning to school at MIT for two years, in September 1970, Hennessy joined the United States Department of the Treasury as Deputy Assistant Security, responsible for International Economic Development. On May 2, 1972, he was sworn in as Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, a Presidential appointment requiring the consent and approval of the United States Senate.

Other

Board member, Corning Inc. and chairman of the finance committee, 1989–2008 Member of the advisory board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 1990–2001 Member of the Twin Towers Fund to compensate the victims of 9/11/2001, 2001–2002 Trustee, The Appeal of Conscience Foundation, (1992–2020) Chairman, The Economic Club of New York, 2004–2006 Member, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MIT Corporation, 1990–2000 Trustee, George Bush Presidential Library | George H. W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation, 1994– Present Independent Inquiry (Volcker) Committee into United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme| Oil for Food Iraq program, led team to set up Baghdad office, May & August 2004 Co-Chairman, Safe Water Network, Inc., founded by Paul Newman to provide clean water to villages in Africa and India, 2005–2010 Advisory Board Member and Inaugural Speaker, The Legatum Center for Entrepreneurship and Development at Massachusetts Institute of Technology| MIT, 2008–2018 Chairman, Care Corporate Council Member of the Visiting Committee, Harvard University, 1988–1993 Trustee, Roxbury Latin School, 1975–1980; 1990–1995 Board Member, American Friends of Eton College 2008–2018 Trustee, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research| The Manhattan Institute, 1991–2001 Co-Chairman, Shakespeare's Globe Centres| Shakespeare Globe Center USA, 1989

Awards and Distinctions

Exceptional Service Award United States Department of the Treasury| U.S. Treasury (1974) Corporate Leadership Award, Massachusetts Institute of Technology| MIT, (1987) Commencement Speaker, Yale School of Management|Yale University School of Management, (1994) Member of 5-man Blue-ribbon panel|Blue Ribbon Committee on Future of Asian Development Bank, Chair Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate (1988) Honoree, New York Boy Scouts of America (1994) Honoree, first Annual Award Dinner of Student Sponsorship (program for mentoring and financing failing NYC public students in Catholic schools) (2000)

Philanthropy

Established scholarships for Latin American students at Harvard University (3 students each year) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT (4 students each year) Established International Exchange and Travel program, Jarvis international lecture series, and program for 1 student to attend Eton College for 1 year post graduate studies President, Margarita and John Hennessy Family Foundation – grants for education and related initiatives