James Thomashower is the executive director of the American Guild of Organists, a position he has held since January 1998. Overseeing a budget of $2 million and ten staff, he is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Guild's national headquarters in New York including cultivation and acquisition of major gifts and grants, the content of the Guild's web site, and providing support for the National Council, its committees, and task forces.

Mr. Thomashower entered the field of association management in 1983 when he joined the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy as its manager of research and communications. He served as NASBA's executive director from 1988-1994, and then as Executive Vice President of the National Society of Accountants from 1995-1997 before joining the AGO at its chief executive in 1998. Mr. Thomashower has also served as president of the Federation of Associations of Regulatory Boards, chairman of the New York Sierra Club Photography Committee, and on the boards of directors of the National Music Council and the Cold Spring Chamber of Commerce among other organizations. He currently serves as president of the Philipstown Reform Synagogue.

Mr. Thomashower earned a B.A. in English from Columbia University in 1973, and was awarded the Certified Association Executive designation from the American Society of Association Executives in 2000. A resident of Garrison, N.Y., Mr. Thomashower and his wife, Penny Brickman, have a 16-year-old daughter, Sarah.