He is a former Deputy Chief of Protocol and also former senior White House staff to President Clinton responsible for coordinating federal policy with the nations Governors.

In 1997, President Bill Clinton appointed DuVal as the White House Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, where he played a role in the implementation of Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.

DuVal helped negotiate a national tobacco settlement and guided White House policy development concerning American Indian gaming rights, tribal appropriations, and Section 638.

[3] In August 2006, DuVal was appointed to his first term on the Arizona Board of Regents by Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano and served as Chairman in 2011.

In September 2010, DuVal was appointed to an advisory group for the National Governors Association's "Complete to Compete" educational initiative.

[17] DuVal established the non-partisan the National Institute for Civil Discourse NICD at the University of Arizona after the near-fatal shooting of Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) in January 2011[18][19][20] He has served on the boards of the University Medical Center (University of Arizona, Tucson), Children's Action Alliance, the Udall Center for Public Policy, Prescott College, Desert Botanical Garden, the Valley of the Sun YMCA and Valley Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

DuVal is a monthly columnist for the Arizona Republic,[22] where he has penned dozens of opinion pieces on a wide variety of issues.