Dave Frohnmayer graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1962. He then attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship and received his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1967.
Frohnmayer served three terms in the Oregon House of Representatives.
Dave Frohnmayer was elected as Oregon's Attorney General in the General Election of November 1980, and was sworn into office on January 5, 1981. He was relected in 1984 and 1988 and served as Attorney General until his resignation on December 31, 1991 when he assumed his duties as Dean of the University of Oregon School of Law. As Attorney General, one of his most notable cases involved leading the prosecution of members of the Rajneeshees, a commune led by the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.
Frohnmayer was the Oregon Republican gubernatorial candidate in 1991.
Frohnmayer served as Dean of the University of Oregon School of Law from January 1, 1992 until his assusmption of duties as President of the University.
He is active in support of research into treatment of the disease of faconi anemia. Two of his daughters died from complications arising from this disease. Frohnmayer was a founding Director of the National Marrow Donor Program and served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund, Inc.
Frohnmayer's father Otto Frohnmayer was a noted southern Oregon lawyer. His brother,John Frohnmayer, served as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts under the administration of President George H.W. Bush.
Dave Frohnmayer resides with his wife Lynn Frohnmeyer in Eugene, Oregon