James Sullivan

James Sullivan is a Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame. He also is co-founder and Director of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO), a research center that works with service providers and policymakers to identify effective and scalable solutions to reduce poverty in America. He has been a visiting scholar at the National Poverty Center and has served on its Advisory Board. He was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago and has served as a national Phi Betta Kappa Visiting Scholar. In 2019, he was appointed to the U.S. Commission on Social Impact Partnerships. His research examines the effectiveness of anti-poverty programs at the national, state, and local level. He also studies the consumption, saving, and borrowing behavior of poor households, as well as poverty and inequality measurement. Sullivan has published numerous journal articles and book chapters and his work has been covered by major media outlets including CNN, the Wall St. Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Forbes, Fox News, Barron’s, Bloomberg News, Slate, the Atlantic Monthly, the Chicago Tribune, National Public Radio, and others. He has testified at Congressional hearings on evidence-based policy on multiple occasions. In 2023, he was also appointed as the inaugural Director of the Notre Dame Poverty Initiative. Sullivan received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University.