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Dr Shannon B. Fox
Dr. Shannon B. Fox is Director of the Chemical Security Analysis Center (CSAC) within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, where he leads a multidisciplinary team providing science-based chemical threat and risk analysis to strengthen national preparedness, response, and risk mitigation.
CSAC was established in 2006 at Aberdeen Proving Ground alongside what is now the U.S. Army DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center (CBC), intentionally bringing together DHS and Department of War chemical-defense expertise where the two agencies’ missions intersect. That integration remains fundamental to CSAC today: its federal workforce is composed approximately equally of DHS and DoW personnel working as a unified team, while CSAC’s Chemical Security Laboratory operates within shared DEVCOM CBC laboratory facilities where scientists from both organizations work side by side. As CSAC Director, Dr. Fox leads this deliberately integrated interagency enterprise to address complex chemical threats through complementary scientific, operational, and national-security capabilities.
Dr. Fox has more than three decades of experience as a chemist and national-security science leader. Since 2003, he has performed and led numerous high-impact programs focused on protecting the United States from toxic chemical threats, including chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals, pharmaceutical-based agents, and emerging chemical hazards. His work has encompassed threat characterization, consequence assessment, experimental research, capability development, and translating scientific findings into actionable information for government and operational stakeholders.
From 2021 to 2022, Dr. Fox served as Director of the DHS Office of National Laboratories, providing executive leadership, strategic direction, operational oversight, and budgeting for five major DHS national laboratories. He has served as Director of CSAC since 2019.
Dr. Fox earned a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina Asheville and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Tennessee.