On the 2010 annual meeting for International FORUM of Fire Research Directors (FORUM) held in Helsinki, all the members of FORUM supported that the 2012 annual meeting of FORUM will be held in China and hosted by State Key Laboratory of Fire Science (SKLFS). This will be the first time for FORUM to be held in China, in the twenty years history of FORUM.

The FORUM is a group of the Directors of fire research organizations throughout the world. It has been active since 1991. Its aim is to reduce the burden of fire (including the loss of life and property, and effects of fire on the environment and heritage) through international cooperation on fire research. An important membership requirement is that the applicant be responsible for establishing research priorities and allocating resources for fire safety research in their parent organization.

FORUM members and their staff are active participants in these organizations' activities. The following members have provided leadership and coordination for these activities:

Chairs

• 2006-current, William Grosshandler (NIST)
• 2005-2006, Farshad Alamdari (BRE)
• 2000-2005, Paul Croce (FM Global)
• 1991-2001, Jack Snell (NIST)　

Deputy Chairs

• 2008-current, J. Russell Thomas (NRC-C)
• 2006-2008, Weicheng Fan (SKLFS)
• 2005-2006, William Grosshandler (NIST)
• 1999-2000, Paul Croce (FM Global)

Secretaries

• 2003-current, Franco Tamanini (FM Global)
• 1994-2003, Richard Bukowski (NIST)
• 1991-1994, Ken Richardson (NRCC)