Rene Henry was born in Charleston, West Virginia in 1933 and his family moved to the Norfolk and Virginia Beach area in 1948. He graduated from Granby High School in Norfolk in 1951 and received an A.B. in economics from the College of William and Mary in 1954. During his time at William and Mary, Henry served as a student assistant in sports information and also student assistant to the director of intramural athletics. In January 1953, while in his junior year, he was named the Sports Information Director for William and Mary.

He was Sports Information Director at West Virginia University (1954-1956) and did graduate work in marketing. He also completed executive management courses at the law schools of Harvard and Georgetown universities.

Rene Henry’s professional career includes work in public relations, sports marketing, housing and construction, presidential campaigns, higher education, television and entertainment, association management, and government service. As a volunteer, he directed the international media campaign for the selection of Los Angeles as the host city of the 1984 Olympic Games, and has been active in the promotion and organization of a number of United States Olympic activities since 1968. He has been involved in the management, marketing, and sales of world cup and world championship events in sports including basketball, cycling, hockey, soccer, and tennis. Henry has also worked at various levels of the building and housing industry, developing and promoting a number of commercial, industrial, and federal projects. From 1968 to1977, he was Executive Director of the Council of Housing Producers, an organization of the largest community developers in the country. Between 1986 and 1988, he served as President and CEO of the National Institute of Building Sciences. In 1988, he volunteered on the presidential campaign to elect George H. W. Bush and Dan Quayle. From there, Henry was appointed to positions at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Agency for International Development, the Department of Labor in 1991, and the Environmental Protection Agency from 1996 to 2001.

Henry has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences since 1978. In 1994, he was elected to the College of Fellows of the Public Relations Society of America and served as Chair of the College in 2001. He is also a member of the Institute of Residential Marketing and former Trustee of the National Sales and Marketing Council of the National Association of Home Builders.