Dennis Shea

Dennis C. Shea is the executive vice president and chair of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. His past work with the center includes serving as a consultant to its Housing Commission and Senior Health and Housing Task Force. In these roles, he contributed to two landmark reports: Housing America’s Future: New Directions for National Policy and Healthy Aging Begins at Home. During President George W. Bush’s administration, Shea served as assistant secretary for policy development and research at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Immediately before joining BPC, Shea served as deputy U.S. trade representative and U.S. ambassador to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. At the WTO, he led an interagency team to advance U.S. interests on issues including trade in goods and services, e-commerce, intellectual property protection, and agriculture.

Shea has a strong record of working with colleagues from both parties to achieve results. In 2003, he was named executive director of the President’s Commission on the United States Postal Service, a bipartisan panel. For more than 10 years, he served on the bipartisan and influential U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Shea earned a J.D., an A.M. in history, and an A.B. in government, all from Harvard University.