James Sullivan

James Sullivan is a Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame and Co-Founder & Director of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO), a research center focused on poverty reduction through evidence-based partnerships with policymakers and service providers. His work spans program evaluation, poverty and inequality measurement, and household economic behavior.

• Ph.D., Northwestern University (2002)
• M.A., Northwestern University (1997)
• B.A., University of Notre Dame (1993)

His research examines U.S. poverty dynamics, administrative data applications for policy analysis, and data privacy implications in economic studies. Recent projects evaluate homelessness prevention, financial assistance programs, and consumption-income inequality trends. Sullivan teaches intermediate microeconomics, graduate public economics, and advanced labor economics courses.

LEO's initiatives under his leadership emphasize scalable anti-poverty solutions. His publications highlight interdisciplinary methodologies, including randomized controlled trials and longitudinal data analysis, to assess welfare reforms, educational interventions, and healthcare impacts. Current works in progress focus on case management for high school retention and consumption-income disparities using linked data.