FIRE welcomes Jack Henneman to board of directors

FIRE is excited to announce that former healthcare executive and attorney Jack Henneman, a longtime supporter of our organization, has joined our board of directors.

Jack brings more than 30 years of experience in corporate governance to FIRE’s leadership. Jack graduated from Michigan Law School in 1986 and began his career as a corporate lawyer in the Chicago office of Latham & Watkins LLP. Between 1994 and 2018 he served in senior leadership roles in the medical device and biotechnology industries. From 1998 to 2014, Jack served as both chief administrative officer and chief financial officer at Integra LifeSciences in Princeton, New Jersey, where he was responsible at various times for the law department, finance, corporate development, human resources, regulatory affairs, quality systems, and IT, as well as several operating businesses. 

“At a time when FIRE is expanding into a national civil liberties organization, Jack brings decades of corporate leadership experience that will be invaluable as we continue to build our capacity to defend the free speech rights of all Americans, no matter their views,” said FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff. “Jack has been a steadfast supporter of FIRE for almost two decades. There are few people better positioned to help guide FIRE into the future than him.”

Since retiring in 2018, Jack has served on the boards of public companies in the healthcare industry, and in 2021 he launched The History of the Americans podcast, a granular yet light-hearted telling of the history of the lands now encompassed by the United States. The son of a history professor, Jack believes that learning about history, especially America’s founding ideals, should be fun and as widely accessible as possible.

“I strongly support FIRE’s inspiring mission, which goes beyond the legal defense of our right to free speech and seeks to expand our culture of free speech. I am honored to be able to support that mission in any way I can,” said Jack. “Free speech and expression are of fundamental importance to people who would govern themselves. If we lose the capacity to express ourselves, we will lose the capacity to govern ourselves.”

Jack was born in New York, grew up in Iowa City, and now lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife Kery Rowden.