Dr. John F. Henry, 77, died September 26, 2020, at his home in Kansas City,

MO.

            Dr. Henry was the son of Forrest J. and Beulah R. Henry (née Richard) of Red Hill, PA. He attended Upper Perkiomen High School and graduated from Muhlenberg College in 1965.  He subsequently attended McGill University, Montreal, receiving his M.A. in 1967 and his Ph.D. in 1974. He taught at California State University – Sacramento from 1970 through 2003 and thereafter at the University of Missouri – Kansas City until 2014. He finished his academic life as senior scholar at the Levy Economics Institute, Bard College, New York. 

            Dr. Henry made contributions to heterodox economics, particularly in the fields of history of economic thought, economic history, and political economy. He is the author of two books, John Bates Clark (Macmillan, 1995) and The Making of Neoclassical Economics (Unwin Hyman, 1990; reprinted by Routledge, 2011). He published over 50 journal articles and book reviews in Journal of Economic Issues, Journal of the History of Economic Thought, History of Political Economy, Forum for Social Economics, Review of Social Economy, Review of Political Economy, Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, History of Economics Review, and Studi e Note di Economia. He also contributed articles to ten books of collected essays.

            The CSUS School of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies awarded Dr. Henry the Outstanding Teacher Award in 1998 and the Outstanding Service Award in 2003.  In 2001 he was selected by the university to deliver the John C. Livingston Annual Faculty Lecture, the highest honor bestowed by the faculty of that institution.

            Dr. Henry served various economics associations for many years, including as president of the Association for Institutional Thought, member of the Steering Committee of the International Confederation of Association for Pluralism in Economics, and member of the editorial boards of Forum for Social Economics and Journal of Economic Issues. More important than his published work was his role as educator. His main objective in his teaching career was to help liberate the minds of students from the shackles of conventional thought.

            Dr. Henry was diagnosed with leukemia in 2012 and was informed in early September 2020 that it had transformed into non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He elected to forego chemotherapy and to spend his remaining time at home under hospice care.

            Dr. Henry was married to Charlene Heinen, originally from Loose Creek, MO, for 41 years.  He has two daughters, Jennifer Woods (Tom) and Leith Henry, both of Sacramento, CA, from a previous marriage to Barbara Henry (née Brode), originally of Sumneytown, PA.  Predeceasing Dr. Henry were his parents and two sisters, Mary Jane Maley and Georgianna Kressly.

            Commemorative donations may be made to the Frederic S. Lee Heterodox Economics Scholarship Fund, in care of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, Kansas City, MO.