Leeds School of Business interim dean Stephen Lawrence

They lead major academic divisions and shape the direction and quality of programs for faculty, staff and students. In this series, "In the Spotlight," we ask CU-Boulder deans to give us a glimpse into their personalities by answering questions aimed at providing a unique perspective on "the person behind the desk." Part seven of this series features Stephen Lawrence, interim dean of the Leeds School of Business.

1. Outside of work, what do you spend the most time thinking about and why?

I spend most of my time outside of work worrying about our children. My wife and I have two sons at CU (one a senior in economics, the second a junior in political science) and a daughter who recently graduated from DU (I'm sorry!) with a degree in anthropology. They are all doing very well, but as a good parent, I'm obligated to worry. If I didn't, I'm sure bad things would happen and I don't want the responsibility. For example, our daughter is looking for a new career path, so I worry that she chooses well and doesn't end up as a checker at WalMart. Our older son is moving to Germany in June to be with his long-time girlfriend, so I worry about the Dollar-Euro exchange rate and the price of Lufthansa tickets to Frankfurt. Our younger son is visiting China in May, so I worry that he might end up in a reeducation camp in the Chinese outback (I know that this doesn't happen much anymore, but I still worry). So I worry at work and I worry at home - I like the consistency.

2. If you won the lottery, what would you do with the winnings?

One thing I don't worry about is winning the lottery. I've never won much in my life (although I've been extraordinarily lucky), so don't think I need to worry about the responsibility of disposing of millions of dollars. Plus, I have a passing acquaintance with probability theory so know that I would have to pull many, many balls from urns before I found one with lots of dollar signs on it. However, if I did win the lottery, I would buy large trophy homes on scenic ridgelines. It would be great fun to bulldoze them flat, replant the property and maybe throw in some prairie dogs. But this is fantasy, so I'm not going to spend much time worrying about it.