Advisory Council

The Advisory Council shall be comprised of distinguished leaders from areas such as education, business, government, law enforcement, health and public policy who are committed to the regulation and safety of alcohol. Advisory Council members should possess an understanding of and a desire to protect each state’s ability to control alcohol for legitimate public purpose. The individuals provide leadership and advise the Center in the areas of research and education. They work to educate the media, policy makers, state regulators, educators and the public about the regulation of alcohol, safe and responsible consumption of alcohol, underage drinking, drunk driving and the effects of alcohol consumption.

James M. Petro, Chair

Petro, who is currently a Senior Counsel at Roetzel & Andress, in Columbus, Ohio, is an experienced counselor, litigator, advocate and public servant. Beginning in 1995, he served as attorney general of Ohio and as auditor of the state of Ohio.

During his term as attorney general, the State of Ohio was a principal party in five cases decided by the United States Supreme Court, and Petro appeared personally to argue one of those matters before the Court (Wilkinson v. Austin, 545 U.S. 209 (2005)).  He also appeared personally to present or argue Ohio cases in state trial court and in the United States Court of Appeals. Aggressive case strategies initiated by Petro resulted in over a billion dollars in debt recovery for the state of Ohio.

For more than twenty years before his election to state office, Petro was a practicing lawyer in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to his private practice, he has been continually engaged in public service as prosecutor, city law director, state legislator and county commissioner. Because of his state service, Petro has received numerous national awards for innovation, advocacy and financial management. He is a graduate of Denison University and Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

James E. Hall

Hall is a leading expert on crisis management and government relations as well as transportation safety and security. Hall was nominated by President Clinton to the National Transportation Safety Board in 1993, became the Board’s chairman in 1994 and led the Board through January 2001. During his chairmanship, Hall worked tirelessly to improve safety in all modes of transportation. Under Hall’s leadership, the NTSB issued landmark safety studies on commuter airlines, the air tour industry, the performance and use of child restraint systems, personal watercraft, transit bus operations, passive-grade railway crossings and the dangers posed to children by passenger-side airbags in automobiles.

Hall began his career in Washington, D.C., serving as counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations and a member of the staff of Senator Albert Gore, Sr. He maintained a private legal practice in Chattanooga, Tennessee, before serving in the cabinet of Tennessee Governor Ned McWherter. Hall served as director of Tennessee’s Planning Office for five years. In 1987, he helped develop and lead the Drug Free Tennessee program, the state’s first comprehensive effort to combat the problems of drug abuse which continues to operate today. Hall also served as chief of staff for Senator Harlan Mathews before being appointed to the NTSB.

Today, Hall serves as an adviser to governments and private clients on transportation safety and security, crisis management and government relations. Hall is a University of Tennessee Trustee, serves on the board of directors of numerous organizations and has served on the National Academy of Engineering’s Committee on Combating Terrorism and the Aviation Institute Advisory Board of George Washington University. Hall is a graduate of the University of Tennessee. He served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1973, receiving the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service in Vietnam in 1969.

Brannon P. Denning

Denning is professor and director of faculty development at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama, where he teaches constitutional law and related courses. Prior to joining the Cumberland School of Law in 2003, Denning taught at the Southern Illinois University School of Law in Carbondale, Illinois.

Professor Denning has written extensively on the Commerce Clause and the dormant Commerce Clause doctrine. He was a collaborator with the late Boris I. Bittker on Bittker on the Regulation of Interstate and Foreign Commerce (Aspen Law & Business, 1999), which he continues to supplement annually.  His articles have appeared in Constitutional Commentary, Foreign Affairs, the Minnesota Law Review, the Northwestern University Law Review, the William and Mary Law Review andthe Wisconsin Law Review, among other journals and periodicals.

In 1992, Denning earned his B.A. from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.  He received a J.D., from the University of Tennessee in 1995; and an LL.M. from Yale University in 1999.

The Center for Alcohol Policy is affiliated with the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA).

For more information, please e-mail info@centerforalcoholpolicy.org.