John J. Lentini has been at the center of most of the important developments in fire investigation in the past 30 years. He began his career at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory in 1974. He has been at the center of the standardization of both laboratory and field investigations of fires. As co-chair of the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI) Forensic Science Committee, he was the principal author of the first laboratory standards published by the IAAI in 1988. He was the first civilian elected to the ABC Board of Directors and among the first group of individuals certified by the ABC as Fellows in fire debris analysis.

He has been a contributor to the development of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 921, Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations, and a member of the NFPA‘s Technical Committee on Fire Investigations since 1996. His study of the Oakland Hills fire in 1991 resulted in a rethinking of much of the conventional wisdom in fire investigation, and his laboratory work has resulted in research papers that are standard works in the field. He is a frequent invited speaker on the subject of the standard of care in fire investigation and laboratory analysis of fire debris, as well as on the progress of standardization in the forensic sciences.