Hebrew SeniorLife Names Richard J. Henken Chair of its Board of Directors

Hebrew SeniorLife, the largest provider of senior health care and senior living communities in New England and an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, has named Richard J. Henken chair of its Board of Directors.

Henken has been a valuable volunteer leader at Hebrew SeniorLife for 15 years. In addition to serving on the Hebrew SeniorLife Board of Directors, Henken has served as chair of the Senior Living Committee, and also serves on the Governance, Real Estate, and Roslindale Campus Planning committees. 

He steps into the board chair role that was held by Melissa Bayer Tearney, who has been a volunteer leader at Hebrew SeniorLife for more than 25 years and served as its board chair for the last three years.

“We are pleased to welcome Richard Henken as our new board chair,” said Louis J. Woolf, president and CEO of Hebrew SeniorLife. “He is a long-time volunteer leader at Hebrew SeniorLife who has long brought his experience in management, real estate, and philanthropy to provide exceptional support of our critically important senior care mission.”

“I am honored to take on the role of board chair and am proud to work with this organization to support seniors seeking to live their best lives,” said Henken.   

“I would also like to thank Melissa Bayer Tearney for her extraordinary leadership as board chair and her significant contributions to our organization, and those patients, residents, and families that we serve,” said Woolf.

Henken officially joined the Schochet Companies as its executive vice president in 1997, after having been affiliated with, and an advisor to, the company for more than a decade. In 2004, Henken became president of the Schochet Companies, including Schochet Development, Schochet Investments, and Schochet Property Management (Schochet Companies’ wholly owned property management subsidiary). Since joining the company, Henken has been responsible for closing transactions with a total value approaching $1 billion, including the acquisition and preservation as affordable of over 3,500 apartments in sixteen developments.

Henken earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from Tufts University and a master of science degree in management, with concentrations in marketing and finance, from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. Prior to joining The Schochet Companies, Henken was a marketing and strategy consultant to Fortune 500 companies and held senior marketing positions in the financial services and consumer packaged goods industries.

Henken also sits on several other nonprofit boards of directors, including the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University, New Lease for Homeless Families, and Discovering Justice. His previous board service includes the Catholic Schools Foundation, where he is a past president and current member of the Advancement Committee; the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (GBREB), where he served as chairman and currently sits on the Legislative Affairs Committee; the Massachusetts Apartment Association, where he is a past president and past chair of the Affordable Housing Committee; the National Apartment Association, where he served as a regional vice president; and Jewish Family Services of MetroWest. He is a member of the Economics Advisory Board of the Tufts Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Henken is the recipient of the 2011 Outstanding Service Award of the Tufts University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; the 2012 Retirement Housing Foundation Friend of the Elderly Award; the 2012 B’nai B’rith Housing Distinguished Achievement Award; the RHA’s 2017 Industry Excellence Award; the 2020 Lawyers Clearinghouse Stephen M. Nolan Leadership Award; and the 2024 Carolyn and Peter Lynch Award, for his service to the Catholic Schools Foundation.

About Hebrew SeniorLife

Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is a national senior services leader uniquely dedicated to rethinking, researching, and redefining the possibilities of aging. Hebrew SeniorLife cares for more than 4,500 seniors a day across campuses throughout Greater Boston. Locations include: Hebrew Rehabilitation Center-Boston and Hebrew Rehabilitation Center-NewBridge in Dedham; NewBridge on the Charles, Dedham; Orchard Cove, Canton; Simon C. Fireman Community, Randolph; Center Communities of Brookline, Brookline; Jack Satter House, Revere; and Leyland Community, Dorchester. Founded in 1903, Hebrew SeniorLife also conducts influential research into aging at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, which has a portfolio of more than $98 million, making it one of the largest gerontological research facilities in the U.S. in a clinical setting. It also trains more than 500 geriatric care providers each year. For more information about Hebrew SeniorLife, visit our website or follow us on our blog, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn.