Robert E. Sullivan Jr., General Counsel
Robert E. Sullivan, Jr. serves as the General Counsel and Director of Career Development for the International Institute. As part of his IIMD duties, he also has recently served as Vice President and President of Hamtramck United Social Services, assisting Michigan’s most ethnically and culturally diverse city, and he also provides professional services to the United Community Family Services (Chaldean American Ladies of Charity), in Troy.
The grandson of Irish-Canadian immigrants, he first started at IIMD as a volunteer as a young child, and later served from 1993–2011 as a member of the IIMD Board of Directors and Advisory Council. In preparing for his career as both a city planner and attorney, he obtained a B.A. in political science and a B.A. in sociology from Monteith College (part of Wayne State University), a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan, and a Juris Doctor (law) degree from the University of Detroit.
He is licensed to practice law in Michigan (since 1984), the District of Columbia (since 1985), and in various federal courts up to and including the U.S. Supreme Court. He practiced as a litigation attorney for 23 years, as a partner with the Detroit law firm of Sullivan, Ward & Bone. He is a nationally certified city planner (AICP), served as a Planning Commissioner for the City of Detroit, and served as an Adjunct Professor of History at Macomb College. He has worked at the federal, state and local levels of government.
He has authored many publications, lectured extensively on various topics of the law, city planning and Detroit history, and has traveled to many countries, particularly to Europe, Russia, China, and Asia. In 2018, he was honored for being a charter member and 40 year member of the American Planning Association. In 2020, he was awarded the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.