Distinguished Alumni Award Winner Profile

Graduating with degrees in economics and political science, Barrett Anderson built a strong foundation at the University of Iowa for a successful legal career. 

As a student, Anderson was president of the Undergraduate Student Government, president of his Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, and captain of Iowa’s renowned mock trial program. His service to the university earned him the Hancher-Finkbine Medallion in 2008.

From the bedrock of his Iowa education, Anderson launched himself into the world of politics. He interned in 2008 with the office of Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa and in 2009 at the White House under former President Barack Obama. 

Anderson then continued his education at Yale Law School. He served as an editor at the Yale Law Journal while performing pro bono work in the nation’s highest court through the Yale Law School Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic. He earned the school’s top award for trial advocacy. 

Following his graduation from Yale Law School, Anderson served as a Heyman Federal Public Service Fellow with the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary and as a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He then practiced law at premier litigation firms Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington and Cooley LLP in San Diego and maintained a robust pro bono practice with a special focus on advocating for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Anderson serves as a senior trial attorney with the Federal Trade Commission, enforcing federal antitrust laws to protect American consumers by ensuring fair competition and preventing anticompetitive mergers across varied industries. He also volunteers on the alumni advisory board at the UI Department of Political Science.