Growing up in a family of scholars, Christopher Mead was determined to avoid art history and literature, his parents' fields of study. That was before he took an architectural history class from Richard Carrott at the University of California at Riverside.

"He taught me to love architecture," says Mead. "His teaching was so good he convinced me to become an art historian." Indeed, Mead went on to earn a Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, where, after taking a serious look at Renaissance and Medieval architecture, he discovered he was more drawn to the modern era. Casting about for a teaching job after a two-year stay in Paris on a fellowship to research 19th century architecture for his dissertation on Charles Garnier, Mead took a fine arts position at UNM in 1980.

He considered UNM a stopover on his career path; after all, his parents had moved the family from campus to campus during their teaching careers. "Then something started to happen," Mead says. "I started traveling around the state and discovered the richness of its landscape and its architecture. By the end of the 1980s, I knew I wouldn't go anywhere else and I started concentrating on making my career here."

In 1988, he became associate chair of the Department of Art and Art History. From 1992 to 1995, he was department chair. Last July, he became interim dean of the College of Fine Arts and hopes to make that position permanent. Mead also has taught in the UNM School of Architecture and Planning and in 1995 was granted a joint appointment in that college.

Since joining the CFA faculty, he has published four books and numerous articles, presented scores of public lectures and organized exhibits. He has been an officer with the Society of Architectural Historians and in 2002 will complete a two-year term as its president. Mead also recently completed a term on the state’s Cultural Properties Review Commission.

But teaching remains his primary interest. "I love opening up possibilities to students and giving them guidance and knowledge." Even the dean should teach a little, he believes, because it's important that a person stay in touch with the primary mission of the school.

Mead is well-versed m the challenges of leading the school, relying on a knack for administrating he discovered as department chair. He prefers to "lead from behind," allowing the faculty, staff and students the freedom to realize their own visions. "My job is to provide them with the means to take advantage of their strengths and to get rid of the obstacles," he says. "I spend a lot of time wrestling with the budget, figuring out limitations and looking for other sources of funding."

But mostly he enjoys a benefit unique to fine arts: attending the numerous shows and events put on by his college. "We have a great faculty and it's so rewarding to see the passion and energy of people who care intensely about what they're doing."

Mead possesses that passion, too, as evidenced in his unconventional corrugated-steel house, designed by renowned architect Bart Prince. Mead has written two books about the Albuquerque native's distinctive work.