John H. Bryan

For the congressman, see John Heritage Bryan.

John H. Bryan is an American businessman.

John Henry Bryan, Jr. was born on October 5, 1936 in West Point, Mississippi, to John Henry Bryan Sr. and Catherine (Kitty) Wilkerson Bryan. He has three siblings: George W. Bryan, also a successful businessman, Caroline Bryan Harrell, and the late Catherine Bryan Dill. He attended Mississippi State University and graduated with a BA in Economics and Business from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.

From 1975 to 2000, he served as CEO of the Sara Lee Corporation. He sits on the Board of Directors of Goldman Sachs, where he serves as Lead Director. Previously, he sat on the Board of the Bank One Corporation, Amoco, British Petroleum and General Motors.

He sits on the Boards of Trustees of the University of Chicago and the Art Institute of Chicago. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Millennium Park in Chicago. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, The Business Council, the World Economic Forum, the Bilderberg Group and Americans United to Save the Arts and Humanities. A Democrat, he has supported Bill Bradley, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. He is a recipient of the French Legion of Honor.

Since 1984, he has lived on Crab Tree Farm in Lake Bluff, Illinois. The farm has cattle, horses, sheep, chickens, and turkeys, and it grows hay, corn, and soybeans.