The Degree Realization problem requires, given a sequence $d$ of $n$ positive integers, to decide whether there exists a graph whose degrees correspond to $d$, and to construct such a graph if it exists. A more challenging variant of the problem arises when $d$ has many different realizations, and some of them may be more desirable than others. We study \emph{optimized realization} problems in which the goal is to compute a realization that optimizes some quality measure. Efficient algorithms are known for the problems of finding a realization with the maximum clique, the maximum independent set, or the minimum vertex cover. In this paper, we focus on two problems for which such algorithms were not known. The first is the Degree Realization with Minimum Dominating Set problem, where the goal is to find a realization whose minimum dominating set is minimized among all the realizations of the given sequence $d$. The second is the Degree Realization with Maximum Matching problem, where the goal is to find a realization with the largest matching among all the realizations of $d$. We present polynomial time realization algorithms for these two open problems. A related problem of interest and importance is \emph{characterizing} the sequences with a given value of the optimized function. This leads to an efficient computation of the optimized value without providing the realization that achieves that value. For the Maximum Matching problem, a succinct characterization of degree sequences with a maximum matching of a given size was known. This paper provides a succinct characterization of sequences with minimum dominating set of a given size.