James X. Sullivan

James X. Sullivan is a Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame and Co-Founder and Director of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO), which partners with service providers and policymakers to develop scalable anti-poverty solutions. He serves on the National Poverty Research Center Advisory Board and was recently appointed to the U.S. Commission on Social Impact Partnerships.

His educational background includes:

• B.A. in Economics from the University of Notre Dame (1993)
• M.A. in Economics from Northwestern University (1997)
• Ph.D. in Economics from Northwestern University (2002)

Sullivan's research centers on poverty measurement, consumption behavior of low-income households, and rigorous evaluation of anti-poverty programs using administrative data and randomized trials. His work addresses critical gaps in understanding real-time poverty dynamics, inequality trends, and program effectiveness. He emphasizes methodological rigor in handling sensitive data while maintaining privacy standards, particularly in evaluating welfare reforms and emergency assistance programs.

Recent publications reveal a strong focus on experimental evaluation of interventions targeting homelessness prevention, community college completion, and emergency financial assistance. His work consistently bridges academic research and policy implementation, with increasing emphasis on longitudinal studies of welfare reform impacts and real-time poverty measurement during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

No scientific awards were explicitly mentioned in the source materials.

As an educator, Sullivan teaches Intermediate Microeconomics and Advanced Labor Economics at the undergraduate level and Graduate Public Economics. Through LEO, he mentors students in evidence-based poverty research and provides guidance for economics PhD preparation. LEO's operations involve multiple grant-funded partnerships with community organizations to implement and evaluate poverty-reduction programs.

The Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) serves as Sullivan's primary research hub, coordinating collaborations between economists, service providers, and government agencies. Current LEO initiatives include evaluating comprehensive case management for high school students and studying the employment effects of emergency financial assistance, reflecting Sullivan's commitment to translating research into actionable anti-poverty strategies.