Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. Ambrosetti

Asked why he would consider leaving New York to accept a position as ASU's next president, Dr. Ronald Ambrosetti was quick with an answer. "There are trade-offs for anywhere you want to live in this country," he said. His voice was warm and friendly, despite a two-foot blanket of snow that covered his campus.

Ambrosetti serves as Provost and Dean of St. John Fisher College in Rochester. In fact, he has spent most of his time on the coasts at schools in New York, California, and Rhode Island. So the question comes to mind: why would he be interested in relocating to a landlocked city in West Texas?

"Angelo State fits the profile of the kind of institution of higher education where I've spent most of my life, where I cut my eyeteeth on," he said.

Ambrosetti added he is no stranger to the Lone Star State and joked about being a naturalized Texan. He put time in at Fort Sam Houston, Baylor and the University of Texas during his military and student years.

"I have spent an awful lot of time on I-35 from Waco to Austin to San Antonio," he said. "I can still drive it. I know every barbecue place in New Braunfels."

That's a topic he is likely to engage students in, said Jan Clark, executive assistant for the Provost at St. John Fisher College.

"When we're out walking across the campus, he stops and chats about barbecue restaurants with the students," Clark said. "He is very open."

Clark said that despite the "chain of command" policy at St. John Fisher, Ambrosetti always has time for the students.

"He is willing to listen and to really think about his responses, to give it fair thought," Clark said. "He has a very good rapport with the students."

But be prepared. Ambrosetti may not limit conversations to the best spots for barbecue in San Angelo. Students could be asked to name five great novels in American literature, if they are in his classroom. In true Hindman fashion, Ambrosetti said he would strive to teach a class every semester.

"I like to teach Intro to Literature to freshmen because it gives you a real insight as to what's going in your classes," Ambrosetti said.

In fact, this approach to leading is the only way that Ambrosetti knows.

"You've got to be hands on, walk around… that's exactly what I do," he said. "You walk, you talk, you get to know as many people as you can, whether its custodians, senior professors, or students you get to know; you have got to do that."

Dr. Donald Castro, who worked with him at California State University, Dominguez Hills from 2000 to 2003, said Ambrosetti works well under pressure and could handle any problems he might have to tackle as president.

"He'd been faced with some major problems at Dominguez Hills," Castro said, but remarked that Ambrosetti was able to "weather them."

According to Castro, the school was on "warning" for its reaccreditation, meaning it was in danger of losing its accreditation with the state, when Ambrosetti first accepted his position as vice president for faculty affairs. Through their joint effort, "we were able to remove (Dominguez Hills) from warning," Castro said, and back into good standing.

"He is capable and very well qualified," Castro said.

Does Ambrosetti feel he is ready to take on the job of president of a university?

"I'm not sure anyone is ever ready for it," he said. "I've done every job…in higher education, including acting president, and in many ways, it's a block building process. You have to work your way up."

Ambrosetti has worked at universities of various sizes across the United States. And yet, with the high level of experience he would bring to ASU, he returns to the one element he feels is most essential as a university leader.

"You have to know what is going on in the classroom," Ambrosetti said. "You have to know education, basically."