Dr Andrew Stockley's career looks like a masterpiece of strategic planning.

 

Over the past 15 years he has held a succession of significant academic and administrative roles at leading universities in both New Zealand and Britain, culminating in his recent appointment as Dean of Law at the University of Auckland.

 

With characteristic modesty, however, Andrew claims that his career progression has been as much the result of circumstance as deliberate tactic.

 

After a year as a lawyer he knew the work "wasn't quite my passion" and resumed his History studies, this time at the University of Canterbury, where he completed a BA with First Class Honours.

 

This period also provided the first steps towards an academic career when he began tutoring at the Law School.

 

"It was an irony to be studying history and tutoring law, but tutoring work in history was very hard to get because so many students stayed on, while fairly well everyone who did law went straight out into the firms."

 

He won a scholarship to do a PhD in History at Christ's College, Cambridge, the following year, but continued working as a law tutor until his departure for England in late 1990.

 

Three years later, shortly before he completed his doctorate, the Dean invited him back to Canterbury's law school to be an assistant lecturer "while working out what to do with my History PhD."

 

He enjoyed the role and couldn't quite believe his luck a year later when he was offered a permanent post teaching his favourite subject, constitutional law.

 

Many would have made a lifelong career from such a position, but Andrew's love of new challenges saw him appointed to a simultaneous role as Principal of College House, the oldest hall of residence in the country, some two years later. The attraction of this job, he says, is that it made use of administrative and management skills, developed and honed during a long involvement with university clubs and societies.

 

"A lot of academics look on administration with a bit of horror, but I really enjoy helping make things happen.

 

"I loved my work at College House because it gave me the chance to reshape something that was already quite successful, to enhance students' enjoyment of their time there."

 

Commitments at College House put some limits on his work at the Law School, but in 2003 he was asked to head the school for a one-year term. At the time it was undergoing major restructuring, and with the Dean on sabbatical, Andrew's background and skills were needed to steer it through what he describes as "a fairly tumultuous time".

 

When that role ended he took a well-earned sabbatical to Oxford, where a chance encounter over lunch persuaded him to apply for his next post, as Senior Tutor at Brasenose College.

 

Here he had charge of a college with70 academic staff from a variety of faculties, 400 undergraduate students and 200 post-graduates.

 

His role encompassed every aspect of academic life, from employing new staff and arranging the teaching programme, to disciplining under-performing students. He also served on a number of university committees, including one that allocated the annual budget of £240 million.

 

In between times he still taught a little law, "so I could look the rest of the staff in the eye", and presented occasional conference papers, but the part of the job he enjoyed most was his involvement with student events.

 

"That's the really fun part of the job - building up a strong community within the institution you're in charge of, by meeting students who are playing sports or putting on plays or whatever."

 

During his five years at Brasenose Andrew helped it go from the fifteenth most popular undergraduate college in Oxford to second favourite, only one application behind the front runner.

 

With the college in good heart, he was open to new challenges, and was excited to hear that the University of Auckland was seeking a Dean of Law.

 

"I thought it would be a very good Law School to lead because it is so successful. It has the top research ranking among New Zealand law schools and, with 1500 first year students reducing to only 300 in the second year, it gets a superb calibre of students."

 

"The recruitment process was very helpful because without that early encouragement I might not have taken it any further."

 

He was asked to come for an interview during his summer vacation, but dates were only finalised after he left for a road trip across the United States.

 

His changed travel plans also gave less time to prepare for interview, but a detailed information pack compiled by Iain Longden, a Senior Consultant at Academic Search International, provided the background he needed.

 

"It all went very smoothly in the end. It was a very comprehensive process, over several days, which was good because I was able to find out a lot more about the law school at the same time as they were finding out about me.

 

"In spite of everything, I found myself feeling very relaxed about the way it all happened."

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