WASHINGTON, D.C.―Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt has announced the appointment of UM Law Professor Mary Doyle as Counselor to the Secretary, a position recently vacated by David Hayes, who is now Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior.

Doyle, who is on leave from her position as tenured professor of law, was dean of the Law School in 1986-94 and served as interim dean in 1998-99.

"I am delighted that someone with the talent and legal stature of Mary Doyle has agreed to serve in the important position of Counselor to the Secretary," Secretary Babbitt said. "It requires a person with a proven track record and great commitment to the vital issues and mission of the Department of the Interior. Mary has shown this high level of dedication to the environment for many decades and has made a sizeable contribution throughout her distinguished career."

Most recently, Doyle has specialized in research on the legal, political and scientific issues surrounding the restoration of the Everglades ecosystem in South Florida. Following her initial service as dean of the Law School, she took a leave of absence to be dean-in-residence at the Association of American Law Schools in Washington, D.C. Her expertise involved legal education and the development of an environmental law curriculum in Russia and the Ukraine.

During the 1980s, Doyle served as a professor of law at the University of Arizona College of Law, specializing in water, land use, local government and property law and subsequently served as both a professor of law and the associate dean for academic affairs.

From 1979 until 1981, she served as an attorney at the Department of Energy, as associate general counsel, then deputy general counsel at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Doyle is a graduate of Radcliffe College and attended Boston Law School and Columbia Law School, where she received her law degree. While attending Boston College Law School, she was elected to the Boston College Law Review.