Arthur E. Cote

Biography

 Arthur E. Cote began his term as immediate past chair of the American National Standards Institute Board of Directors in January 2012. He previously held the positions of chair from 2009-2011 and vice-chair from 2005-2008, and served as a member of the Executive Committee from 2004-2008. Since his initial nomination to the Board of Directors in 1998, Cote has participated actively as chair of the Finance Committee, chair of the Nominating Committee, and member of the International and National Policy Committees. Prior to serving on the Board of Directors, he was a member of the ANSI Executive Standards Council from 1985 to 1993. Prior to his retirement in 2006, Mr. Cote was executive vice president and chief engineer at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). In this position, he was responsible for all of the technical operations of the Association, including the overall administration of the NFPA codes and standards development process, which develops more than 300 fire and electrical safety codes and standards that comprise the National Fire Codes. During his 30 years at NFPA, Mr. Cote was editor-in-chief of five editions of the Fire Protection Handbook, including the new 20th edition; co-authored the 2nd edition of Principles of Fire Protection; and was editor-in-chief of Fundamentals of Fire Protection and the 3rd edition of the Industrial Fire Hazards Handbook. Prior to joining NFPA in 1977, he held positions of vice president and chief engineer for an automatic sprinkler contracting company; supervising engineer in the engineering and loss control division of a major insurance company; and fire inspector for a fire insurance rating bureau. Mr. Cote is past president and Fellow of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE); a member of SFPE’s Educational and Scientific Foundation; and a member of the Standards Engineering Society. He is the immediate past vice chair of the Confederation of Fire Protection Associations International (CFPA- I) representing 26 major fire protection associations around the world. In 2006, Mr. Cote was honored with the American Fire Sprinkler Association’s highest award, the Henry S. Parmelee Award. The following year, he received the 2007 Standards Engineering Society’s Leo B. Moore Medal. Mr. Cote received his Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Protection Engineering from the University of Maryland in 1965 and holds a Professional Engineering license in fire protection in the State of Pennsylvania. He has had over 40 years experience as a fire protection engineer.

Research Interest

 Immediate Past Chair American National Standards Institute (ANSI)