Daniel Ish is a law professor emeritus at the University of Saskatoon. For many years he has also been an active volunteer and board member in many co-operative organizations. From 1989 to 1995, he was executive director of the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives at his university where he also served as dean of the law school for three terms. As an international advisor and consultant in law and governance, he volunteered abroad for the Canadian Co-operative Association and other organizations in the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the United States, Pakistan, the Caribbean, Nepal, China and Ukraine. From 2010 to the present, Dan has served on the board of the Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation (Sask.), which he chaired between 2013 and 2020.
Since 1995 Dan has chaired the Saskatchewan Treaty Land Entitlement Arbitration Board. He took a leave of absence from the university to work as an adjudicator for the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, assuming the position of Chief Adjudicator from 2007 to 2013. In recognition of the commitment and effectiveness with which he fulfilled that role, the Governor General awarded him the Order of Canada at the Officer level.
After retiring as Chief Adjudicator, Dan stepped up his practice in arbitration and mediation. Since 1979 he has arbitrated or mediated more than 400 cases in labour, commercial and contractual matters and is named in many collective agreements as the preferred mediator.