Doolittle attended Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas and obtained a B.A. in Government and Geography (1974). He then studied at the University of Missouri, Columbia (M.A. 1976) and received his Ph.D. in 1979 from the
University of Oklahoma, studying with
B.L.Turner II, reportedly struggling financially with a family to support. He taught for one year at
Mississippi State University. He joined the
UT Geography Department in 1981. He has served as an undergraduate advisor, graduate advisor (receiving UT's Outstanding Graduate Advisor Award in 2004), and Department chair. He was a visiting professor at
Brown University in 1997, and a Fulbright Senior Specialist at
Stockholm University in 2007. He has graduated a number of doctoral students including
Andrew Sluyter (1995). ==Research interests==