My Brother Adrian: The Smart One (But Don’t Tell Him I Said That)

Growing up in the Henning household, my brother Adrian Grenville Henning was always the one who had a plan. While I was busy figuring out how to survive the chaos of emergency medicine, Adrian was off becoming a rocket scientist, accountant, and financial expert—all in one. Seriously, if there was ever a Henning who could build something, budget it, and file taxes on it all at the same time, it’s him.

Adrian was the third of us four siblings—just enough behind me to steal all the attention but close enough that we always had each other’s backs. Adrian’s career path is honestly exhausting just to think about. First, he became an Electronic Engineer specializing in Avionics (yes, the planes and rockets kind). Then he decided that wasn’t enough and added a Commerce degree, became a Chartered Accountant, and eventually made his way into big-league finance—working for firms like PwC, Ernst & Young, and later, Wells Fargo Bank in the U.S.

Adrian and I might have taken very different professional routes—he crunches numbers and solves engineering puzzles while I deal with broken bones, midnight emergencies, and people who try to superglue injuries shut instead of coming to the hospital—but at the core, we’re both cut from the same Henning cloth.

Our dad, Prof. Cosmo Henning, raised us to be problem solvers, hard workers, and just stubborn enough to never back down from a challenge. Whether it’s an ER crisis or a corporate finance deal, Adrian and I both share that “figure it out” attitude that seems to run in the family.

Proud to Call Him My Brother

I give Adrian a hard time for being the “smart one,” but the truth is, I couldn’t be prouder of the life he’s built and the person he is. He’s proof that with a little determination (and maybe a well-organized Excel sheet), anything is possible.

I just hope one day he finally admits that I was the cool one :).

Paul Henning, MD