Timothy Jackson Sullivan (born April 15, 1944) is an American attorney, legal scholar, and academic administrator who served as the twenty-fifth president of the College of William and Mary. Sullivan's thirteen-year administration was marked by a sustained emphasis on the quality of undergraduate education. During the budget shortfalls of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Sullivan transferred resources from other institutional priorities to protect class sizes and academic standards. As spokesperson for Virginia's state-supported colleges and universities, he became an outspoken advocate for increased state education funding.
A William & Mary alumnus, he previously served as dean of its Marshall-Wythe School of Law from 1985 to 1992. After his presidency, he served as president and CEO of the Mariners' Museum and Park in Newport News, Virginia, from 2006 to 2009.
Sullivan has received various honors for his contributions to higher education. In 1992, Sullivan was given the Freedom of the Drapers' Company in London, and was installed as a member of the Livery in July 2003. In 1993, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) from the University of Aberdeen. His maternal grandfather was Judge Albert L. Caris. Before graduating from Ravenna High School in 1962, he served as president of the student council and vice-president of his senior class, co-edited the school newspaper, and was a member of the National Honor Society.
Sullivan entered the College of William and Mary as a freshman in 1962 and graduated in 1966 with a B.A. in Government. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and to Omicron Delta Kappa, a second national academic honor society.
Academic career
Marshall-Wythe School of Law
Sullivan returned to William & Mary in 1972 as an assistant professor at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law, specializing in contract law. He was promoted to associate professor in 1974, and to full professor and associate dean in 1977. Sullivan became dean of the Marshall-Wythe School of Law in July 1985, a position he held until 1992. During his deanship, the law school rose in national rankings, drawing favorable recognition from Virginia educators and state legislators.
The Mariners' Museum and Park
On November 1, 2006, Sullivan was appointed president and CEO of The Mariners' Museum and Park in Newport News, Virginia, a position he held until 2009. During his tenure, he conceived of and helped broker the relocation of the Mariners' Museum Library to a new facility on the campus of Christopher Newport University, where it was integrated with the university's Trible Library—a public-private partnership that expanded researcher access to the museum's maritime collection and the USS Monitor archival records.
Public service and civic roles
Sullivan held a series of senior public-service appointments in Virginia. He served as executive director of the Governor's Commission on Virginia's Future, counsel for the Commission on the Future of the Virginia Judicial System, and as a member of the Virginia Board of Education. He was appointed by Governor L. Douglas Wilder as chair of the Governor's Task Force on Intercollegiate and Interscholastic Athletics, and served on the Governor's Task Force on Substance Abuse and Sexual Assault on Campus.