David S. Doty

Friend of the College

Dr. David S. Doty is Superintendent of the Canyons School District, a 33,000-student district comprised of the municipalities of Cottonwood Heights, Midvale, Sandy, Draper, and Alta in the southeastern part of Salt Lake County, Utah. Prior to his appointment as Superintendent, Dr. Doty was Assistant Commissioner & Director of Policy Studies for the Utah System of Higher Education, and the Director of Utah Scholars, a business/education initiative that motivates high school students to complete a rigorous college-prep curriculum.

He earned a B.A. in Spanish from Brigham Young University (1989), as well as a J.D. from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School (1993), where he was a Senior Editor of both the BYU Law Review and the BYU Education & Law Journal. He also earned an M.A. from the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University (1990), and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from BYU's David O. McKay School of Education (1999).

Dr. Doty also worked previously as an attorney in private practice with the Columbia, South Carolina law firm of Duff, Turner, White & Boykin, where he provided legal counsel to public school districts and colleges across South Carolina. A member of both the Utah State Bar and the South Carolina Bar, Dr. Doty is a frequent presenter at state and national conferences, and is active in a number of professional organizations, including the Education Law Association and the Council of School Attorneys. In addition, Dr. Doty has taught graduate-level courses in education law and public policy at the University of Utah, Winthrop University, and the University of South Carolina. Dr. Doty and his wife, Rori, a University of Utah graduate who is an R.N. at Intermountain Medical Center, reside in Sandy and have three children in public school.