Michael V. Drake was born in New York City and raised in Englewood, New Jersey, and Sacramento, California.

His mother graduated from East High School in Youngstown, Ohio, before attending college in Baltimore.

The family lived in Baltimore, Nashville, Tennessee, New York, and New Jersey before settling in Northern California.

[5][6] Drake spent more than two decades on the faculty of the UCSF School of Medicine, ultimately becoming the Steven P. Shearing Professor of Ophthalmology and senior associate dean.

He then served for five years as vice president for health affairs for the University of California system.

[11] At the time of his appointment, he was part of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the board of directors of NCAA Division I.

He also increased the value of Ohio State Land Grant Opportunity Scholarships to cover the full cost of attendance while doubling the size of the program in 2018.

An alumna of Stanford and Berkeley Law, Brenda Drake is an attorney and has served as a director or trustee of organizations focused on education, international health, finance, civil rights and the arts, including the National Urban League, City Arts & Lectures in San Francisco, San Francisco University High School and Golden Gate Bank.

[28] Details emerged revealing that UCI had received criticism on the hire from the California Supreme Court's then-Chief Justice Ronald M. George, who criticized Chemerinsky's grasp of death penalty appeals, as well as a group of prominent local Republicans who wanted to stop the appointment, including Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

[32] Drake fired Ohio State marching band director Jon Waters on July 24, 2014,[33] after a university investigation found that the band's "sexualized culture" was "inconsistent with the University's values and Title IX requirements".

[34] Waters sued for reinstatement, accusing the university, Drake, and a provost of discriminating against him by disciplining him differently than a female employee and denying him due process.