Dr. James Burrows is a distinguished economics and finance expert, corporate executive, strategic advisor, and board leader whose career spans nearly six decades of executive leadership, economic consulting, and corporate governance. Throughout his remarkable professional journey, he has built an international reputation for helping organizations solve complex strategic, financial, and economic challenges while creating long-term value for shareholders and stakeholders alike. Combining academic excellence with practical executive experience, Dr. Burrows has advised Fortune 500 corporations, governments, financial institutions, and multinational organizations across a diverse range of industries. His leadership philosophy is grounded in disciplined analysis, ethical governance, and thoughtful decision-making, making him an exceptional executive and highly qualified corporate board candidate.
Dr. Burrows is Vice Chairman of Charles River Associates (CRA), one of the world’s leading global consulting firms specializing in economics, finance, and management consulting. During his extraordinary tenure with the firm, he founded CRA’s highly successful Metals and Minerals Practice, led the firm’s Expert Testimony and Litigation Services Practice, served on the CRA Board of Directors for 35 years and as President and Chief Executive Officer for fifteen years. One of his most significant accomplishments was leading CRA through its successful initial public offering in 1998 and guiding the organization throughout its first decade as a publicly traded company. CRA revenues have increased by over tenfold as a public company. Dr. Burrows’ experience managing the complexities of public company leadership—including investor relations, governance, corporate finance, strategic planning, acquisitions, and shareholder communications—provides a level of executive expertise that few leaders possess.
Throughout his leadership career, Dr. Burrows has consistently demonstrated an exceptional ability to bridge sophisticated economic and finance analysis with practical business strategy. His expertise spans business strategy valuation, and mergers and acquisitions. Having led a professional services organization with more than one thousand employees while simultaneously advising senior executives around the world, he understands how sound governance, disciplined execution, and long-range planning combine to build enduring organizations. His experience taking a company public also gives him unique insight into the challenges facing growth-oriented companies preparing for capital markets or transformational expansion.
While Dr. Burrows’ consulting expertise reaches across numerous industries, his deepest specialization lies within the natural resources sector. Throughout his career he has advised organizations involved in metals and mining, energy, agriculture, chemicals, transportation, and industrial manufacturing. His work has included strategic planning, asset valuation, environmental economics, international investment negotiations, competitive market analysis, and commercial dispute resolution involving some of the world’s largest natural resource projects. His strategic counsel has helped governments negotiate investment agreements, mining companies evaluate acquisitions, and multinational organizations make informed capital allocation decisions across highly complex international markets.
Internationally recognized as one of the leading economic experts in valuation and dispute resolution, Dr. Burrows has served as a consulting expert and testifying expert in numerous high-profile matters involving damages, business valuation, international arbitration, mergers, antitrust litigation, environmental impact analysis, and international trade. He has been retained by sovereign governments, multinational corporations, and regulatory agencies, throughout the world. He has provided expert testimony in significant international arbitration proceedings involving mining, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, and financial markets, earning widespread respect for his analytical rigor, objectivity, and ability to clearly communicate highly technical economic concepts. His career reflects an uncommon ability to solve difficult business problems where economics, law, finance, and strategy intersect.
Beyond executive leadership and consulting, Dr. Burrows has made lasting contributions to academic research and professional thought leadership. He has authored or co-authored six books along with numerous scholarly publications covering industrial economics, environmental valuation, natural resources, international trade, regional economics, and public policy. His work has helped shape conversations surrounding economic policy, market regulation, valuation methodologies, and strategic decision-making. As a frequent speaker, he has shared his expertise on corporate strategy, valuation, business economics, and leadership with professional organizations and executive audiences throughout his career.
Dr. Burrows’ educational accomplishments laid the foundation for his distinguished career. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Harvard College before completing a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, two institutions renowned for developing many of the world’s foremost business and economic leaders. His academic training, combined with decades of executive experience, has enabled him to approach business challenges with intellectual discipline while remaining focused on practical outcomes that drive measurable organizational success.
Equally important to his professional accomplishments is Dr. Burrows’ longstanding commitment to service and governance. He served on the CRA board for thirty five years and on the Board of Directors of The Home for Little Wanderers, one of America’s oldest child welfare organizations. His board experience reflects his belief that governance is rooted in accountability, integrity, and service to a mission greater than oneself.
Today, Dr. Burrows is actively seeking additional board opportunities because he believes his decades of executive leadership, strategic consulting, and governance experience can provide meaningful value to organizations facing growth, transformation, or increasingly complex competitive environments. While he continues his work with Charles River Associates, he has the capacity and enthusiasm to contribute at the board level where his expertise in public company leadership, professional service companies, strategic planning, valuation, natural resources, mergers and acquisitions, and international business can help organizations make better long-term decisions. His unique combination of CEO experience, public company governance, global consulting, and economic expertise positions him as a trusted advisor capable of helping executive teams and fellow directors navigate both opportunities and uncertainty with confidence.
Character:
Dr. Burrows leads with integrity, intellectual honesty, and an unwavering commitment to ethical decision-making. His decades of trusted service to clients, corporations, nonprofit organizations, and fellow leaders demonstrate a leadership style built on accountability, professionalism, and respect.
Knowledge:
His expertise spans economics, finance, corporate governance, business valuation, mergers and acquisitions, international arbitration, and strategic consulting across numerous industries. Combined with advanced academic credentials from Harvard and MIT, his knowledge enables him to solve highly complex business challenges with clarity and precision.
Strategic:
Dr. Burrows consistently approaches organizations with a long-term strategic perspective focused on sustainable growth and enterprise value creation. His experience leading a public company while advising multinational corporations and governments demonstrates exceptional strategic judgment across changing market conditions.
Communication:
Whether serving as a CEO, consultant, author, board member, or expert witness, Dr. Burrows communicates sophisticated economic and business concepts with remarkable clarity. His ability to translate complex analysis into actionable executive guidance enables boards and leadership teams to make confident, informed decisions.
