Patrick C. Sheehan was appointed as the Director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency in 2016.  Director Sheehan advises Governor Bill Lee on all aspects of emergency management policy and serves as Tennessee’s principal liaison to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  He previously served in several roles at the Ohio Emergency Management Agency from 2003 to 2016. Prior to serving in emergency management, he was an enlisted member of the United States Army Reserve as a Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Specialist and completed Army Airborne School.  He also worked in the private sector, helping to run his family’s businesses in the Atlanta area.  Director Sheehan holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Kennesaw State University and is currently pursuing his master’s degree from Lipscomb University. He is a graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security Executive Leaders and the Radiological Emergency Preparedness Executives programs.  He was also a fellow in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s inaugural Vanguard Crisis Leadership Program in 2022 and is a part of the Harvard Global Crisis and Resilience Forum.

Director Sheehan chairs Tennessee’s State Emergency Response Council and is a member of the Nashville Joint Terrorism Task Force, Tennessee’s Cyber Security Council, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s First Responder Resource Group, the Public Safety Advisory Council for the FirstNet Authority, the Tennessee Nuclear Energy Advisory Council and serves in other emergency management, homeland security, and public safety and service organizations.  Patrick is Chairman of the Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium Board of Directors and is the current President of the National Emergency Management Association. 

Director Sheehan, an Eagle Scout, and his family continue to be engaged in scouting in Middle Tennessee.