Biography of UC Leaders
President Mark G. Yudof - appointed March 27, 2008
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Mark G. Yudof was named the 19th president of the University of California on March 27, 2008, and took office June 16, 2008. He leads a university system with 10 campuses, five medical centers, three affiliated national laboratories, and a statewide agriculture and natural resources program. The UC system has 220,000 students, 180,000 faculty and staff, more than 1.6 million alumni, and an $18 billion annual operating budget.
Yudof served as chancellor of the University of Texas System from August 2002 to May 2008 and as president of the four-campus University of Minnesota from 1997 to 2002. Before that, he was a faculty member and administrator at the University of Texas at Austin for 26 years, serving as dean of the law school from 1984 to 1994 and as the university's executive vice president and provost from 1994 to 1997. His career at UT Austin began in 1971, when he was appointed an assistant professor of law. He has continued to teach throughout his administrative career.
Yudof is a distinguished authority on constitutional law, freedom of expression and education law who has written and edited numerous publications on free speech and gender discrimination, including "Educational Policy and the Law." He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the American Law Institute. He served a two-year term on the U.S. Department of Education's Advisory Board of the National Institute for Literacy and currently is a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.
A Philadelphia native, he earned an LL.B. degree (cum laude) in 1968 from the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he also earned a B.A. degree (cum laude with honors in political science) in 1965. He was awarded the Alumni Award of Merit (2001) and the prestigious James Wilson Award (2004) by the University of Pennsylvania Law School for his many years of service and contributions to the legal community.
Regent Frederick Ruiz - appointed: July 2, 2004; Term expires: March 1, 2016
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Fred Ruiz is Chairman and CEO of Ruiz Foods, a leading manufacturer of authentically prepared frozen Mexican foods. Mr. Ruiz is an advisor and founding member of the Institute for Family Business at California State University, Fresno and serves on the president's board for the University. He is a board member of the University of California, Merced Foundation. Mr. Ruiz is also on the boards of directors of the California Chamber of Commerce, the McClatchy Company, Gottschalks, Inc., and Valley CAN "Clean Air Now." Mr. Ruiz was appointed as a Regent in 2004 by Governor Schwarzenegger.
Committee memberships (2008-09): Compliance and Audit (Chair); Grounds and Buildings (Vice Chair); Health Services
Patrick J. Lenz - appointed January 17, 2008
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As Vice President of Budget, Lenz, 54, has responsibility for developing, approving, communicating and implementing the university's operating and capital resources acquisitions, allocation and long-range budget plans.
Lenz has held senior budget positions in all three segments of California public higher education, most recently as assistant vice chancellor for budget for the California State University (CSU) system. Previously he held various positions with the California Community Colleges, including as the system's executive vice chancellor.
Lenz joined UC after six years at CSU, where he was responsible for coordinating the System Budget Advisory Committee, which develops CSU budget requests, and for reviewing and approving all CSU campus funding allocations. He was also responsible for providing budget and fiscal policy briefings to members of the Executive Council of CSU Presidents and for advocating and testifying on behalf of the CSU in Sacramento.
Prior to joining CSU, Lenz served in a variety of roles at the 109-campus California Community Colleges system. He rose from vice chancellor for fiscal policy to executive vice chancellor. Previously he served in a variety of fiscal roles for the California State Senate, including as deputy director for the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee.
Daniel M. Dooley, Vice-President, ANR - appointed January 2, 2008
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Daniel M. Dooley is senior vice president for external relations and vice president for agriculture and natural resources for the UC system. Dooley, 58, is a distinguished agriculture and environmental attorney with extensive experience in California government and politics. As senior vice president for external relations, he will oversee a division at the UC Office of the President that includes communications, state governmental relations, federal governmental relations, alumni affairs and institutional advocacy. Dooley is working with campus and systemwide colleagues to build public understanding of UC’s contributions, to engage elected officials and the public in constructive and responsive dialogue, and to build the support necessary to sustain the remarkable quality and accessibility of UC.
As systemwide vice president for the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR), Dooley leads 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.
Before taking office as UC vice president for agriculture and natural resources in January 2008, 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 to 2002 in the family-owned Dooley Farms, a diversified San Joaquin Valley farming operation.
Dooley previously served as chief deputy director of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (1977-80) and as member 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 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.
He holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of California, Davis, and a J.D. degree from the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific.
Richard B. Standiford, Associate Vice President, ANR – appointed January 1, 2005
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As associate vice president, Standiford has broad responsibilities for the internal management of the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. He works closely with the three agricultural college deans (at Berkeley, Davis and Riverside campuses), the dean of the school of veterinary medicine (at the Davis Campus) and other senior officers of the university as a member of the executive council, which advises the Vice President on ANR policies, allocation of resources, and long-term programmatic directions.
Since joining UC in 1980, Standiford, a UC Cooperative Extension forestry specialist, has taken on many administrative duties. He was the Division’s program director for natural resources from 1985 to 1987, vice chair-extension for UC Berkeley’s Department of Forestry and Resource Management from 1989 to1993, and manager of the Integrated Hardwood Range Management Program from 1988 to 1999. As associate dean of the College of Natural Resources and director of the Center for Forestry from 1998 to 2002, he guided UC Berkeley’s forestry program. His duties in the College broadened to include responsibilities for capital projects and Cooperative Extension programs from 2002 to 2004.
His research has focused on developing quantitative models of stand dynamics of Mediterranean oak woodlands, with an emphasis on oak regeneration, stand growth and the role of fire. He also has worked on projects to monitor changes in hardwood habitat as a result of management activities, land use, and natural factors. His research and outreach are designed to provide tools to improve forest management and inform policy decision making. He has authored or co-authored more than 130 technical journal articles and reports.
Raised in New Jersey, Standiford earned his BS in forestry from North Carolina State University, his MS in wildland resource science from UC Berkeley, and his PhD in agricultural economics from UC Davis.
Barbara Allen-Diaz, Assistant Vice President, ANR - appointed September 1, 2007
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As AVP-Programs, Allen-Diaz is the programmatic leader for ANR and responsible for guiding all ANR academic programs at the statewide level. The AVP-Programs serves as the statewide program leader for county-based Cooperative Extension programs and the director for the research and extension centers. ANR’s four program leaders, three regional directors, and the directors for the nine research and extension centers report to her. She chairs the Division’s Program Council, which coordinates Divisionwide planning and delivery of programs.
Allen-Diaz joined UC in 1986 and served UC for over 20 years as a UC Berkeley professor and member of the Agricultural Experiment Station. She also served as department chair of Environmental Science, Policy and Management and executive associate dean of UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources. In 2005 Allen-Diaz was awarded the first Russell Rustici Chair in Rangeland Management, in recognition of her strong program in range management and ecology.
Her research has included the effects of livestock grazing on natural resources, oak woodlands and ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada. She has authored or co-authored more than 140 research articles and technical reports.
Before joining the UC Berkeley faculty, she worked for the U.S. Forest Service for six years as a regional ecologist for Region 5, with responsibilities for California’s 20 million acres of national forest. In 2007, she was honored to share the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for her work on mitigation of climate change effects on rangelands. The Society for Range Management honored her with its Outstanding Achievement Award in 2001, and the following year the California chapter named her Range Manager of the Year.
Allen-Diaz was born in Mt. Vernon, Wash., and raised in the small town of Edmonds, 15 miles north of Seattle. She attended the University of Washington, and then earned her bachelor’s in anthropology, master’s in range management, and doctoral degree in wildland resource science, all from UC Berkeley.