Daniel M. Dooley was appointed UC senior vice president for external relations on March 19, 2009, after leading the division on an interim basis since Nov. 5, 2008. In making the appointment, UC President Mark G. Yudof cited Dooley's decades of experience in developing constituent and legislative support for important public policy priorities and the high level of respect he enjoys in both Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
Dooley also serves as senior advisor to the president on Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR). From January 2008 to September 2011 he served as vice president of ANR, leading a statewide research and public service organization responsible for activities in agriculture, natural resources, environmental sciences, family and consumer sciences, forestry, human and community development, 4-H/youth development and related areas.
Dooley is a distinguished agricultural and environmental attorney with extensive experience in California. Throughout his career, he has held leadership positions in local, state and national agricultural organizations, as well as with the university. Prior to serving as UC vice president of ANR, Dooley was a partner at Dooley, Herr and Peltzer LLP, a Visalia-based law firm emphasizing agricultural, environmental, business and water rights law. He distinguished himself by successfully bridging environmental and economic considerations in a number of controversial legal cases. He was a partner from 1980-2002 in the family-owned Dooley Farms, a diversified San Joaquin Valley farming operation producing cotton, alfalfa and walnuts.
Dooley previously served as chief deputy director of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (1977-80) and chair of the California Water Commission (1982-86). He also served as UC representative to and chair of the Council for Agriculture Research, Extension, and Teaching (CARET), a national grassroots organization of the land-grant universities and colleges. He has served as vice chair of USDA's National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board, Chair of the Farm Foundation Board of Trustees and Roundtable Steering Committee, and a member of the U.S. Trade Representative's Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade. He currently serves as a member of the National Academy of Sciences' Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, is a member and past chair of the Board of Trustees of Children's Hospital Central California, and also previously served as president of the Visalia Chamber of Commerce.
In 2007, Dooley was cited by California Lawyer magazine's Lawyer of the Year publication for his work to achieve settlement of two-decades-old litigation relating to the San Joaquin River. In 2004, he was inducted into the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Research Hall of Fame. He also received the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Award of Distinction in 2000.
Dooley received his bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from UC Davis and his J.D. from the McGeorge School of Law at the University of Pacific. He is also a graduate of the California Agricultural Leadership Program.