In 1990 he joined UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources as the director of Bay Area Research and ExtensionCenter in San Jose. In 1993 he was promoted to director of the South Coast Research and ExtensionCenter.

"Daniel provided leadership to the South Coast Research and ExtensionCenter during a challenging period of increased urbanization and rising operating costs," said William Frost, associate director of UC ANR Research and ExtensionCenters. "He encouraged expansion of programs that addressed urban-agricultural interface issues and urban environmental quality issues."

Overseeing field studies at the two research and extension centers located in urban areas over the past two decades brought unique challenges. As homes and schools were built closer to the OrangeCounty research facility over recent years, Hagillih had to adjust farming practices. For example, he had to consider what time he could start noisy tractors and choose pest control methods that would have the least impact on neighbors. He also instituted farming practices to reduce the amount of dust raised.

A native of Maridi, Sudan, Hagillih was raised on subsistence farming. Although his father was a medical assistant, Sudanese families typically grow sorghum as a staple food and peanuts, black-eyed peas, cassava and chickens. 

"You grow enough for yourself and sell a little bit to buy clothes and things," Hagillih explained.

In retirement, Hagillih plans to visit his relatives, including 21 siblings, in Sudan. 

"All my relatives are in Sudan," Hagillih said. "I haven't been back since 1982 because of the civil war. They (the warring factions) reached an agreement in 2005 so I'll go for a visit." 

He hopes to help his two brothers who farm in Sudan, where growers use crop rotations rather than fertilizers and pesticides. 

"They exhaust this soil, then move to another patch," he said. 

He looks forward to sharing what he has learned while working at UC.

Interacting with the professors, farm advisors and specialists from different disciplines at the research and extension centers is among what Hagillih values most from his career. He worked with several vegetable varieties, low-chill peaches, pluots and citrus, and helped evaluate tree fruit varieties for homeowners to plant. UC holds patents on several strawberry and avocado varieties that were developed at the South Coast Research and ExtensionCenter during his tenure. 

Because Hagillih was one of the top-scoring students on the high school exit exam, he was chosen to enroll at the University of Khartoum. After studying French at LovaniumUniversity in Congo, he became a secondary school teacher in 1966. Later, he attended the University of Khartoum, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture in 1972. He went to work as an experiment officer in the Horticultural Section of the Agricultural Research Corporation of Sudan. In 1974, the government agency sponsored his graduate training in horticultural science at the University of Florida, where he earned his master's and doctoral degrees.

Upon completing his doctorate in 1980, Hagillih returned to Sudan for two years to conduct research on subtropical fruits and vegetables. From 1983 through 1990, he managed PRIDE of Florida, a wholesale landscape plant nursery. 

He and his wife, Janice, plan to return to Florida to make their home.