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Daniel Dooley named vice president for UC's agriculture and natural resources programs

Nov 19, 2007 11:59 AM

At their board meeting, the University of California Regents appointed Daniel M. Dooley, a distinguished agricultural and environmental attorney with extensive experience in California agriculture, to head UC's statewide agricultural and natural resources programs, effective Jan. 2, 2008.

As systemwide vice president for the University's division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR), Dooley will lead 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.

"For more than a century, the University has provided farmers and ranchers with the cutting-edge research and new technology they need to stay competitive in national and international markets," said Wyatt R. Hume, UC's provost and executive vice president for academic and health affairs. "Together, we have introduced some of the most progressive, sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural practices in the world to supply safe and abundant food. Dan Dooley's leadership and experience will help sustain and strengthen this relationship between California agriculture and the University of California."

ANR programs and services, including Cooperative Extension and the Agricultural Experiment Station, are located on UC's Berkeley, Davis and Riverside campuses and in more than 50 regional and county offices throughout the state, with nearly 1,000 faculty, specialists and advisors, and an annual budget of $300 million, including $117 million in state funding.

"I am deeply honored to be selected as vice president for Agriculture and Natural Resources and appreciate the University's confidence in my ability to lead the premier agricultural research and extension system in the nation," said Dooley. "UC is uniquely positioned to enable California to continue to lead the world by finding new opportunities and solutions to the most pressing issues facing agriculture, consumers, the environment, natural resources and our youth."

Dooley has had a long relationship with UC and the agricultural community. Throughout his career, he has held leadership positions in local, state and national agricultural organizations, as well as with the University. 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 has chaired both the UC President's Advisory Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources and the UC Agricultural Issues Center's advisory board, as well as serving as UC representative on the Council for Agriculture Research, Extension, and Teaching (CARET), a national grassroots organization of the land-grant universities and colleges.

Dooley currently is a partner at Dooley, Herr and Peltzer, LLP, a Visalia-based law firm emphasizing agricultural, environmental, business and water rights law. He has distinguished himself by successfully bridging environmental and economic considerations in a number of controversial legal issues, including the recent settlement of protracted litigation regarding the restoration of the San Joaquin River, the reintroduction of salmon and the maintenance of agricultural practices supported by water from the river.

He was a partner from 1980-2002 in family-owned Dooley Farms, a diversified San Joaquin Valley farming operation producing cotton, alfalfa and walnuts.

Dooley has led national efforts involving Congress and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges to establish the "National Institutes for Food and Agriculture" within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Modeled on the National Science Foundation, with an independent chief scientist, the institute would provide substantial new funding for competitively awarded research, extension and education grants.

He has served as vice chair of the USDA's National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board, chair of the Farm Foundation Bennett Agricultural Roundtable, and a member of National Academy of Sciences' Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources and the U.S. Trade Representative's Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade.

He has also served as president of the Visalia Chamber of Commerce and as a member and a past chair of the board of directors of the Children's Hospital Central California.

"Dan Dooley is recognized and respected by the agricultural and environmental communities, elected officials in Washington and Sacramento, and across higher education as being thoughtful, proactive and a consensus builder," said San Joaquin Valley businessman and Regent Fred Ruiz. "He is the right person to lead the University's agricultural and natural resources programs into the future."

Dooley will receive an annual salary of $320,000, along with the following additional items per university policy:

-Standard Pension and Health and Welfare benefits and standard Senior Management benefits, including Senior Manager Life Insurance, Executive Business Travel Insurance and Executive Salary Continuation for Disability;

-5 percent monthly contribution to the Senior Management Supplemental Benefit Program;

-An automobile allowance of $8,916 per year;

-Reimbursement of actual reasonable costs associated with the move from Sacramento to the Bay Area;

-Participation in the Mortgage Origination Loan Program (MOP), available to be exercised within a period not to exceed 24 months from date of employment;

-Use of administrative funds for official entertainment and other purposes permitted by university policy.

-Dooley will also receive, as an exception to policy, reimbursement of actual reasonable costs associated with temporary accommodations not to exceed $25,000 over a period of six months to assist with his transition from Sacramento to Oakland.

Dooley was selected after a national search.

Earlier this year, 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 U.S. Department of Agriculture'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 the Pacific. He is also a graduate of the California Agricultural Leadership Program.

Richard B. Standiford, ANR's associate vice president, has served as acting vice president since the retirement of W.R. Gomes as the division's vice president in May after 11 years of service.

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