Dedicated to Community
“I am the first in my family to get a college degree and the only one to get a law degree,” said Daniel P. Santos JD’85. “After finishing my bachelor’s degree, I worked for eight years — first in migrant education in southern Oregon and then for the Oregon Migrant Education Service Center in Salem — before I returned to school for my law degree.”
“At Willamette, I had the opportunity to do many things, from being a student lawyer in the court system to working on appeals.”
Santos was attracted to a variety of law specialties in school. “What fascinated me, though, was that I didn’t have to become a courtroom lawyer,” he said. “I could use my degree in public policy and administration.”
Because Santos was interested in the many facets of poverty law, he clerked at Marion Polk Legal Services while a student at Willamette. “I had the opportunity to do many things, from being a student lawyer in the court system to working on appeals,” he said.
Santos’ resume is a long one, reflecting the breadth of his interests and talents. He has served as juvenile justice policy assistant for the Oregon Commission on Children and Families, supervised the Oregon Migrant Education Service Center and directed the Jackson County Migrant Education Program. He also has served as chair and member of the Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision for the State of Oregon.
More recently, Santos has held an array of state positions under several Oregon governors. In his current position as policy advisor, he makes the most of his experience in education, public policy and law.
Santos, who has received numerous awards and recognitions for his work in the community, clearly epitomizes the Willamette motto, non nobis solum nati sumus — “not unto ourselves alone are we born.”