James M. Shannon has been a member of the ULRI Board of Trustees since 2009 and formerly served as its chair.

Mr. Shannon served from 2002 to 2014 as president and CEO of the National Fire Protection Association, the world’s leading advocate of fire prevention and developer of fire safety standards and the National Electrical Code. Mr. Shannon was also a member of the International Electrotechnical Commission, a global nonprofit organization that publishes international standards for electrotechnology. He was a member of the IEC Executive Committee from 2016 to 2021 and its president from 2017 to 2019.

Prior to joining NFPA, Mr. Shannon was elected attorney general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and served in this role from 1987 to 1991. Mr. Shannon was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978 and served for three terms in Congress, including as a member of the Ways and Means Committee where he worked on major tax legislation and was actively involved in legislative efforts to strengthen Social Security.

Mr. Shannon also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Peace Foundation from 2000 to 2019.

Mr. Shannon received a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and a J.D. from George Washington University Law School.