In his 24 years at UW-Madison, Gary Sandefur has held almost every role on campus, except the one he is now vying for — chancellor.

Sandefur, dean of the university's largest college, the College of Letters and Science, has been professor, program director, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, and interim provost. He is the only one of four finalists for the job working at UW-Madison.

Through it all, he remains well-regarded on campus, colleagues said in interviews.

They describe Sandefur as a "careful listener" with a "quiet strength."

But the job of chancellor means he will need to hold a strong — arguably the strongest — voice on campus.

"I don't think Gary's quiet speech means he isn't forceful," said Charles Read, professor emeritus and a member of the committee that chose Sandefur as dean. "He is forceful, can be forceful, when the need arises."

Sandefur grew up in Madill, Okla., and is a member of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma.

He would be the first American Indian to lead the university, said Ada Deer, former director of the American Indian studies program.

Sandefur spent his career studying the family structure, poverty, diversity and American Indians. "Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts? What Helps?", a book he wrote with Sara McLanahan, is considered a definitive text 14 years after it was published, said Maria Cancian, director of the Institute for Research and Poverty at UW-Madison.

"He has a deep commitment to social justice," Cancian said. "It's not a surprising interest. I think it is reflected in some of the contributions he's made as an administrator. He's very attentive to issues of equality, climate, access and transparency."

As dean, Sandefur is responsible for 39 departments, five professional schools, more than half of UW-Madison students and a budget of almost $300 million.

Sandefur said he spends about a third of his time as dean fundraising, but expects to spend up to half his time wooing donors as chancellor.

He has presided over the college during a period when the amount of funding from the state has not kept pace with expenses.

"When he took the dean's job, he wasn't anticipating the budget crisis he was going to be going through," said Doug Maynard, chairman of the sociology department.

With UW-Madison's lower-than-average salaries, other colleges and universities have been raiding some departments in Sandefur's college for faculty. Last year, 33 professors in the College of Letters and Science got job offers from other universities and the school lost 14 of them, according to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. But Maynard said this is not a sign of poor leadership.

"Many of the departments within letters and sciences are at the top of the field," Maynard said. "It has nothing to do with administrative leadership. We've got a lot of talented faculty, which means we'll be susceptible to raiding."

Sandefur was the highest-ranking official on campus during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when he warned against a backlash to the Muslim community.

Ashok Kumar, a UW-Madison student and former County Board supervisor, said Sandefur is receptive to student concerns and ideas, often acting on those issues.

"There isn't any hesitation to meet with students," Kumar said. "As a freshman, I asked if we could meet, and he said, 'Does Monday work for you'?"

If he is chosen as the next chancellor of UW-Madison, don't be surprised to see Sandefur strolling down State Street to the Capitol on a nice day.

The walk would be a "symbol" of the link between campus and the Legislature, he said, a relationship historically fraught with conflict as the two entities tussle over limited funding.

Sandefur said his leadership style will be different from that of current Chancellor John Wiley.

"I think he's done a lot to maintain contact with the Legislature," Sandefur said. "But it is something we need to work on."

In a recent interview, Wiley said he recognized the search committee may have been looking for someone to take a softer approach with legislators.

"I assume a lot of people think I left a lot to be desired in terms of tact and diplomacy in dealing with the Legislature," Wiley said. "Maybe they were looking for someone to improve in that aspect. I don't know."