Dawn Noelle Ison (born 1963) is an American lawyer who is the

United States attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Education

Ison earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from

Spelman College Spelman College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia ...

in 1986 and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

Wayne State University Law School Wayne State University Law School (Wayne Law) is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), ...

in 1989.

Career

In 1989 and 1990, Ison was a prehearing attorney for the

Michigan Court of Appeals The Michigan Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court of the state of Michigan. It was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1963, and commenced operations in 1965. Its opinions are reporter (law), reported both in an officia ...

. In 2002, Ison began serving as an

assistant United States attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

in the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. She also served as chief of the Drug Enforcement Task Force Unit.

United States attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan

On November 12, 2021, President Biden nominated Ison to be the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. She was reported out favorably by the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

on December 9, 2021, and was confirmed by the Senate on December 14, 2021. She was sworn into office on December 21, 2021. On January 19, 2025, Ison resigned.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ison, Dawn Noelle 1963 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century African-American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century African-American lawyers Assistant United States attorneys Lawyers from Detroit Spelman College alumni United States attorneys for the Eastern District of Michigan Wayne State University Law School alumni