From 1996 to 2008, Darling served as Vice President for University and External Relations, Senior Vice President for University Affairs and Executive Vice President for University Affairs. He was responsible for the University’s external relations programs: state and federal governmental relations; communications with the news media and public; alumni relations; and philanthropic giving to the University. In this capacity, he was responsible for the University's relationships with the Governor’s Office, State Agencies, the California Legislature, Federal Agencies and the Congress, UC's 1.4 million alumni, the media, and the public. He was also responsible for integrating internal and external policy coordination and serving as liaison with the Regents.
From March 2006 to May 2007, he had the added responsibility, on an interim basis, for administration of the University's $56 billion pension program, University compensation, collective bargaining and labor relations, human resources and benefits, and the internal audit program. He was responsible for initiating widespread and systemic reforms to the University’s governance, policies and practices related to executive compensation.
In 2003, in addition to his ongoing responsibilities, Mr. Darling was UC's Interim Vice President-Laboratory Management, responsible for UC's management oversight of three national laboratories with budgets of nearly $4 billion and 18,000 employees — Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory — for the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration. Mr. Darling's actions to address management failures at Los Alamos and weaknesses in the University's oversight of the three national laboratories were praised by the Department of Energy and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Darling served as Co-Chair, with Provost Rory Hume, of the UC Long Range Guidance Team to provide strategic guidance to the President and the Regents on future goals, objectives and strategies for the University. In 2003, he served as Co-Chair with Regent Joanne Kozberg, of the Eligibility and Admissions Study Group, which examined and recommended to the President and the Regents changes to strengthen the University's undergraduate admissions policies and practices.
Previously, Mr. Darling served as Vice Chancellor for Development and University Relations at the University of California, San Diego and as Special Assistant to the Director of the National Science Foundation.
His professional honors include election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the University of California Presidential Medal, the UC San Diego Foundation Civis Universitatis Award, the National Science Foundation Commendation for Notable Service, and the Rod Rose Award for the most outstanding paper published in the Journal of the Society of Research Administrators.
He serves on the Board of the California Council on Science and Technology and is a member of the California Commission on Impartial Courts. He was co-chair of the 2002 and 2004 California education facilities bond measure campaigns which secured voter approval for $25.4 billion for facilities construction and modernization at California’s public schools, colleges and universities. He is a member of the Advisory Board for UC Santa Barbara's Donald Bren School for Environmental Science and Management, the UC President's Board on Science and Innovation and the UC President's Advisory Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Darling graduated Summa Cum Laude from UCLA, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Gamma Mu, Alpha Mu Gamma and Sigma Delta Pi national academic honors societies. He speaks Spanish and Portuguese, having attended elementary and secondary school in South America and the Caribbean.
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