Paul Shearon
International President

Paul Shearon was unanimously elected to serve as the International President of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), AFL-CIO & CLC, at IFPTE's 59th Convention in June 2018. Prior to that, he was unanimously reelected to serve as Secretary-Treasurer of the IFPTE from 2006 to 2015.

Shearon served as Organizing Director for IFPTE's largest Local, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA/Local 2001) from 1996 until being elected as the Union's Secretary-Treasurer. He ran successful organizing drives in Seattle and Wichita bringing union representation to over 5,000 employees. During SPEEA's famous 40-day strike in 2000, Shearon was charged with developing the strike plan and actively supported strike line activities. He also taught as a teaching fellow for the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute and was a guest speaker at the Third International Conference for Professional Engineer and Scientist Organizations in Copenhagen Denmark in 2003.

During his career, Shearon worked for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Lockheed Missiles and Space Company Advanced Systems Development, Stanford Research Institute and the Boeing Company. He worked as a Numerical Control Programmer, heading up the programming for Boeing's new Six-Axis Waterjets used to cut the composite empennage for the first 777 aircraft.

Shearon was born in Liverpool, England and grew up in the San Francisco Bay area before moving to Seattle, Washington. He currently resides in Washington, D.C. with his wife Sue.