For a man who never intended to teach, let alone climb to top-level educational leadership, landing the job of vice president for Academic Affairs – the number two spot in St. Mary's administration – may seem a bit far-fetched. Add the fact that he's the first executive officer in University history to come out of the School of Law and you might ask, "What are the odds?" But, after chatting with André Hampton, it's clear he's right where he's supposed to be.

Editor: In your own words, tell the jury a little bit about your background.
Hampton: My dad was in the Army, so we moved around a lot. I was born in Los Angeles and lived abroad and all over the states, but my father retired in Houston. That's where I finished high school. Military brats get a good education, and you learn how to adapt quickly and get along with people from all backgrounds.

From an early age, I knew I wanted to 'be something.' I attended the University of Texas in 1975 in their Plan II honors liberal arts program and stayed in Austin for 19 years. After my bachelor's, I went to law school and also earned a master's degree in Public Affairs. Then I joined a private sector law firm where my areas of responsibility were corporate business, litigation and real estate. I was what you would call a 'projects-oriented' attorney; one that provided everything the client needed.

Editor: How did law as a career path lead to teaching law?
Hampton: Growing up I was exposed to the civil rights movement and discrimination. My plan was to be a civil rights lawyer and to represent the rights of the oppressed and downtrodden. I was interested in constitutional law as a vehicle for changing society.

However, I could have easily become a theologian. I spent a lot of time thinking about God and theology. When our first child was born, I converted to Catholicism. I don't know how other people approach their religion, but I'm in a constant dialogue with God; I'm a work in progress. I came to St. Mary's to get a job but I've gotten much more. I feel the institution shaping me in my religious thoughts and views. Being here requires me to respond to my better angels – it's because of the people here and what the institution is that deepens my appreciation for Catholicism and calls me to continue my journey.

I got into teaching reluctantly. After graduating, my plan was to never set foot in a law school again. But UT kept calling, asking me to teach as an adjunct law professor and one day I said yes. That's how it started.

At the time I was practicing healthcare law so I taught a seminar in that area. I was teaching something I liked and wound up having the best time of my professional career. You do best in a job when you don't have to change who you are. Teaching in the classroom, I could be me.

Editor: How was it that you arrived at St. Mary's University School of Law?
Hampton: In the early '90s, law firms were downsizing. I saw the writing on the wall so I left the firm, leased an office and started my own small practice. I was catering to a health law clientele, but I wanted to continue to teach so in 1992, I called St. Mary's to ask if they would like me to teach a healthcare law seminar. I was teaching full-time by 1994.

Editor: You got involved in the Faculty Senate and assumed the top post in that body. Was it hard to navigate school lines?
[Editor's note: The Faculty Senate represents the faculty in the governance of the University and is comprised of senators from St. Mary's five schools. Hampton became only the third law faculty member to lead the Senate since its inception in 1966.]
Hampton: My reputation in the law school was as a mediator, so I guess that's why my colleagues voted me onto the Faculty Senate in 1998. I think members appreciated how I addressed issues in an orderly and reasoned fashion – like a lawyer. I was elected vice president and then president, a post I held for five years.

Being relatively new to St. Mary's, I didn't have any preconceived notions of "us" and "them" with regard to the schools, and that may have helped me get elected.

My focus as president was to have the Senate become a more effective voice for the faculty. I must've liked doing it to stay with it for so long but, again, it's the institution – being here calls me to do things that I never saw myself doing.

Editor: You filled the academic affairs vice presidency on an interim basis in 2008. Why do you think President Charles Cotrell thought you were the best person for the job?
Hampton: It's kind of amazing. Without intending to, I guess I'd built up a reputation as a mediator and I think Charlie needed someone able to help with the transition. He may have seen that I'd built up a degree of trust with the faculty – people knew me to be an honest person, which I truly value. I'd developed administrative abilities as associate dean at the law school, and Charlie knew me pretty well because of my Senate experience.

I planned to serve as interim vice president for one year and then go back to the law school. Sometimes, plans change.

Editor: So even with the posts' inherent challenges, its positive aspects made you decide to apply for the vice presidency?
Hampton: As interim, I had to learn more about the University. I thought I knew a lot already, but as interim I saw what people were doing every day. We have terrific, dedicated people doing highly commendable work. While interim vice president, I even became more in love with St. Mary's. I evolved from thinking, "I'll come in, serve a year and try not to do any harm" to "maybe there's something I can bring to the table to help us."

I also discovered that a special kind of student is attracted to St. Mary's – one whose orientation is on service. Certainly students come here because of our strong academics, but I believe our reputation as a university that cares brings them here.

Editor: Do you believe that St. Mary's mission calls you personally to take on this leadership role?
Hampton: It's significant to me that "Mary" is in our name and I believe this place is magical. Personally, when I come to St. Mary's, I feel like I'm working at a church because it's such a spiritual place. The institution and the people in it – we affect one another. Everything I've done over the past years shaped me for this. I believe I'm the right person for the right time. It's really about having a job that you love and a place you love being.

Editor:After your appointment, you wrote a memo to faculty thanking them for their support. In it you stated: "We will need to respond to a new and challenging landscape in higher education…Our academic programs will need to be relevant to a contemporary reality, to a new generation of students with new expectations, different learning styles, and different means of accessing and processing information. In short, we are going to need to be more 'happening.'" What is your vision for making St. Mary's more "happening"?
Hampton: I don't see myself as a visionary; rather, I think about myself as someone who recognizes and cultivates good ideas, and helps people implement those ideas. The "happening" is an invitation to people University-wide to come forward with their best ideas – to enliven the environment – and to believe that it takes all of us to do that. The leader doesn't bring the vision to the people, the leader brings the vision out of the people.

We need to look at new ideas. We need to review programs and determine which are successful and which may need to be tweaked, and always with an ear to the ground to find out what the exciting, new academic programs might be.

But it's not enough to identify new programs; we have to be able to deliver them while staying true to our reputation and heritage – offering quality programs that address the whole person in St. Mary's fashion.

We're only at the point where we can dream about the future because of the hard work that got us here.

Editor: Do you have specific goals you'd like to implement in your new role? Hampton: I'm excited about our schools – we've got exceptional leadership in the deans. I've worked to implement an associate dean structure so the deans can do more external development instead of being restricted to their offices, and they're excited.

What we must preserve is our legacy of being good teachers. Our foundation is built upon students knowing they can come here and get a good education from excellent teachers whose commitment is to them. That, in and of itself, will carry us far.

Editor: What are the biggest challenges to your leadership role?
Hampton: In our mission statement, we say we want to provide an integrated liberal arts and professional education. And that comes down to the core curriculum. Integrating these two goals is difficult.

We are also being pressured from the outside. Everyone wants education quicker and cheaper. Our challenge is to balance a properly understood liberal arts education with the fact that we promote and offer professional degrees. We have to move forward but we don't want to abandon what got us here.

Some will say our core curriculum is too big, but it's big because it's important. The core discussion captures our biggest challenge in a nutshell – to respond to the realities of the modern environment without abandoning our identity. We'll get through this task, but it's going to take a lot of hard work.

The other big challenge, of course, is that there are always too many great ideas for the resources available. Part of my job is to find innovative ways to fund some of these great ideas.

Editor: What makes you want to come to work every day?
Hampton: The funny thing about this job is that you don't know what's going to happen on any given day. I just know that whatever it is, I'm going to enjoy doing it.