As I wrote in my recommendation of Zach for Northwestern University’s Employee of the Year award in 2012 (which he received), “Zach routinely goes so much ‘above and beyond’ that ‘the exceptional’ flies under the radar.” Zach always aspired to do better, and be better. He demonstrated technical and team leadership in every position we gave him on the Kellogg Information Systems team. He was always up for a challenge and a growth opportunity, and it was a pleasure having him on our team.

Zach’s capabilities are as extraordinary as his professionalism and his amazing commitment to success. After working with Zach for many years and in many relationships, I can confidently speak to Zach’s strengths.

Zach’s skills run both deep and broad. Zach is able to work and lead at any technical or strategic level; he’s undaunted by complexity, creeping scale or scope, or lengthy requirements.

Zach excels whether designing academic technology solutions for ground/hybrid/online learning environments or architecting enterprise class administrative systems; from distributed synchronous digital events and digital media distribution platforms to multi-tenant service desks and multidimensional structured knowledge bases.

Zach is consistently able to solve challenges that others would find intimidating, and curate and drive an ecosystem of best-in-class academic platforms, services, and tools.

I had the good fortune of working with Zach at two institutions during a 10-year span. In these radically different organizations – one was private, the other public – he brought tremendous value with his rare blend of analytical, operational, and creative skills. Zach has the ability to conceive of completely new solutions, such as the massive interactive learning platform he developed for UC Berkeley, and then execute at an astonishingly high level. He’s also gifted at turning those skills towards solving not just technical challenges but also organizational ones – such as the right way to structure departments or projects. That allows him to bring colleagues and team members along when he establishes a big vision, particularly with mentoring direct reports. As a plus, Zach is lots of fun around the office with his sense of humor.

Strength & Conditioning Coach, Kellogg MBA, Ex-CMO

I hae always been impressed by his outstanding diligence and high level of technical expertise in creating a road map for our institution.  I have been more than satisfied with our working relationship. While working with Zach, I also had the great pleasure of watching him transform into a business-oriented architect and manager who played the primary architecture and management role on some of our institution’s key projects. I was particularly impressed by the professionalism and technical innovation that Zach demonstrated in our project.

Not only Zach is highly intelligent; he is also a very hard-working manager. He has tackled every project with enthusiasm and competence. He understands exactly what a project is all about from the outset, and how to get it done quickly and effectively. Zach consistently produces superior quality work, that is on time and within budget targets. I believe Zach is a true example of the type of system manager that every employer wants: accountable and responsible, with a superior work ethic and a high degree of integrity.

I highly recommend Zach McHenry for any position in education, IT, or startup field that involves complexity, creativity, and high-quality requirements in technologies. He is an exceptionally bright and hardworking person who will do his very best to do an outstanding job for whomever he works.

Creative Director at UC Berkeley Extension