Professor Sean Sullivan was appointed to the Jon and Sarah Fister Chair in Law and Economics during a University of Iowa College of Law Investiture Ceremony on Friday, April 24, 2026, at the Levitt Center for University Advancement. 

Sullivan joined the College of Law faculty in 2017 after serving as an antitrust attorney at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. He earned his JD and PhD in economics from the University of Virginia, and an MS in statistical science from George Mason University. He is also senior editor and chair-elect of the Antitrust Law Journal, the leading scholarly journal in the field, and an affiliated research and administrator at VeconLab, a leading experimental economics laboratory. 

The ceremony also recognized Jon (67BS, 71JD) and his late wife Sarah Fister, who, with their philanthropic gift, established this prestigious position within the college. Seeking a way to help his alma mater and make a lasting tribute to his late wife, he  made a $2 million commitment in 2024, and then in December 2025, added $1 million to the fund. 

Fister graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1971 and practiced in Clarinda, Iowa, before joining Beecher Law Firm in Waterloo, Iowa in 1972, where he practiced commercial, banking, and real estate law for more than 20 years. In 1993, Gov. Terry Branstad appointed Fister a district court judge for Iowa's First Judicial District. He became chief judge of the district in 2008 before he semi-retired in 2010 and continued to take on special cases and fill in for full-time judges as part of a senior judgement until 2016. 

This named position will help impact lives, careers, and the study and practice of law for many years to come.