Biography
Teresa A. Sullivan was elected eighth President of the University, effective Aug. 1, 2010.
Before coming to U.Va., President Sullivan was the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan. She was also Professor of Sociology in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
Prior to coming to the University of Michigan, Ms. Sullivan was Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for the University of Texas System, a position she held from 2002 until May 2006. In that role, she was the chief academic officer for the nine academic campuses within the University of Texas System.
Her responsibilities included developing tuition-setting procedures, initiating and supporting educational and research collaborations among the various campuses, and developing external collaborations. Ms. Sullivan first joined the University of Texas at Austin in 1975 as an instructor and then assistant professor in the Department of Sociology. From 1977-81, she was a faculty member at the University of Chicago. Ms. Sullivan returned to Texas in 1981 as a faculty member in Sociology. In 1986 she was named to the Law School faculty as well. Ms. Sullivan also held several administrative positions at Texas including: Vice President and Graduate Dean (1995-2002), Vice Provost (1994-95), Chair of the Department of Sociology (1990-92), and Director of Women’s Studies (1985-87).
Ms. Sullivan’s research focuses on labor force demography, with particular emphasis on economic marginality and consumer debt. The author or co-author of six books and more than 50 scholarly articles, her most recent work explores the question of who files for bankruptcy and why. Ms. Sullivan has served as chair of the U.S. Census Advisory Committee. She is past secretary of the American Sociological Association and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
A graduate of James Madison College at Michigan State University, Ms. Sullivan received her doctoral degree in sociology from the University of Chicago.