James A. Guest

Who is James A. Guest?

James Alfred Guest is an American lawyer and consumer advocate. From 2001 to 2014, he was President and CEO of Consumer Reports, a position he was appointed to after serving as Chairman of the Board of the organization, then called Consumers Union. His tenure on the board of Consumers Union was from 1976 to 1994.

After graduating from Amherst College with a major in Economics in 1962 and serving as a Woodrow Wilson fellowship in economics at MIT, he graduated from Harvard Law School with the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1967. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Amherst College in 1997. From 1968 to 1971, he served as a Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy. Guest then moved to Vermont, where he was appointed State Commissioner of Banking and Insurance in 1976 before being elected Secretary of State of Vermont in 1981. He garnered 47% of the vote against U.S. Senator Robert Stafford in 1982. He lost election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1988.