James F. Shaughnessy, Jr. has been a resident in the City of Kingston for 27 years. He graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in economics. He taught junior high school following graduation before moving to New York City to work as controller and operations manager for a management education and publishing company. In 1980, he began his career as a developer of business management computer applications.
He was a founder of the Entrepreneurial Catalyst Forum in 1994, which provided networking opportunities for people unemployed by the shutdown of IBM Kingston. It resulted in the establishment of several “new media” companies in Ulster County. In 1995, he served as chairman of Mayor Gallo’s Internet Taskforce. He was also a founder of the Winter Bear Montessori School Parents Association in 2003 and was active in the PTA and a classroom parent at George Washington Elementary School.
He has served on the Kingston City School Board since 2006, now in his 5th non-consecutive term as president, and was one the Board of Directors for the Mental Health Association in Ulster County for seven years (serving as president for two years) and has been on the Ulster County BOCES Board of Education since 2015, serving on the Audit Committee and the Facilities Committee. Jim, with his board colleagues, has made many contributions to improve the educational opportunities for our students and promote the health environment for many of our neighbors in the region.
Jim is the loving husband to Joann M. Ives who passed away in 1999. They have one daughter, Larissa.
Contact Jim directly at: James.Shaughnessy.KNY at gmail.com