The Outstanding American Award honors those who have carried the lessons of wrestling into remarkable success in business, science, the arts, or public service. Emmit McHenry is a powerful example of that impact.  

Born in 1943 as the first of nine children, McHenry grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in a family rooted in entrepreneurial spirit and a community that nurtured his ambition. His Greenwood neighborhood, widely known during the Jim Crow era as “Black Wall Street,” had largely rebuilt by the time he was born after being devastated in the infamous 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

McHenry was also powerfully influenced by wrestling and earned a scholarship to the University of Denver. Throughout his life, he has attributed his fortitude to family, community and wrestling.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Denver in 1966, McHenry joined the United States Marine Corps. As a lieutenant, he served in C4, command, control, communications, and computers. Following his military service, he returned to civilian life and earned a master’s degree in communications from Northwestern University in 1979.

That same year, McHenry and three partners founded Network Solutions, a pioneer of the emerging “dot-com” era. Early funding proved challenging, but in 1995 the company developed code that simplified the domain name system, introducing familiar extensions such as .com, .org, and .net for broader public use and commercialization. Following this breakthrough, the company was sold to VeriSign for $21 billion in 1997.

 Over the years, McHenry founded or managed multiple corporations, including IBM, Connecticut General, Union Mutual, Allstate, and Net Solutions.

Throughout his life he always had time for service beginning as a youth with LearnCity and continuing as a public servant in Fairfax County and the Virginia Economic Development Authorities.

He and his wife Singleton McAllister have two sons, Kurt and Michael. Kurt wrestled at Herndon High School and George Mason University and the family wrestling legacy continues today with grandson Kurt II, a two-time freestyle cadet world champion and a three-time Maryland state champion who wrestled at the University of Michigan and Penn State University.

The 82-year-old McHenry shows little sign of slowing down while taking business engagements in South Africa, Europe and Asia.