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Name and title: Beverly E. Ledbetter, vice president and general counsel.

Venerable Ivy Leaguer: Brown University is the United States' seventh oldest college, and was the first to admit students regardless of their religious persuasion. It was founded in 1764 as the College of Rhode Island and later renamed for an early benefactor. Now located in Providence, R.I., Brown has 8,025 undergraduate, post-graduate and medical students; 679 full-time faculty members; and between 3,500 and 4,000 employees. The private university's endowment is worth $2.8 billion. Brown has become one of the nation's most selective institutions of higher education, and also one of the most highly regarded.

Legal team and outside counsel: Ledbetter oversees a five-person legal department, including herself. She estimates that 90 percent of Brown's advising function is performed in-house. Most of the specialized work, including litigation, goes outside. The firms she retains keep changing, and frequently "we'll move with the person." Ledbetter believes that her time is spent more efficiently when working with lawyers to whom she is accustomed.

Joan Lukey, a former Boston Bar Association president now with Boston-based Ropes & Gray, is one valued adviser. Among other firms used by Ledbetter are Boston-based Hinkley, Allen & Snyder; the Boston office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr; and Providence-based Adler Pollock & Sheehan. Ledbetter reports to Brown President Ruth J. Simmons.

Daily duties: Ledbetter's goal as Brown's general counsel, she said, is to "minimize in a significant way the legal issues that the university will confront." Her department advises and represents the school in every aspect of its operations. Employment is one of the most fertile areas of legal concern in higher education, according to Ledbetter. Real estate is important, too. Brown, with 238 buildings on 143 acres, is the largest landholder in Providence.

Matters relating to the physical environment are big concerns. Ledbetter compared the college's responsibilities to those of a homeowner: It must respond to any potential threat of harm to individuals on the campus or university property. Colleges are open venues with continuous interaction with the public, so maintaining campus security is essential. The vigilance seems worthwhile for Ledbetter, who believes that "higher education ultimately exists for the public benefit."

Fraternities, sororities and secret societies can sometimes be the source of legal problems, but Ledbetter takes pains to place the responsibility on misbehaving individuals, rather than the entities themselves.

In addition to her Brown duties, Ledbetter serves on the advisory board to the general counsel of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). She adamantly supports the group's mission to keep college athletics on a level playing field. "Imagine the world of competitive sports without it," she said. "It would have the same excesses as the corporate sector."

Brown and its Ivy League partners seldom run afoul of the NCAA, even though the Brunonians -- as members of the Brown community are known -- maintain as many as 37 varsity teams. The Ivies compete against one another, but not on a gargantuan scale. Their recruitment policies differ and their admissions philosophies diverge from those of the athletic powerhouses, which lets them skirt many potential problems. They avoid participating in what Ledbetter called "the arms war" of building bigger and more expensive stadiums. Title IX issues are "pretty settled," she said, and the Ivy League schools have a relatively "huge number" of women athletes.

Pressing issues: Federal regulations affecting higher education are increasingly complex, pervasive and important to college general counsel, according to Ledbetter. Originally limited to employment, the rules now encompass safety, privacy and admissions. Matters of public accountability, including ethics and conflicts of interest, are covered.

Among the watchdogs are the U.S. Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The Environmental Protection Agency monitors research facilities, and the legal team confronts asbestos and lead abatement issues. The U.S. Office of Civil Rights, "unique to higher education," enforces nondiscrimination laws. Brown's visa compliance office reports to Ledbetter, who must follow immigration rules regarding foreign faculty, research staff and students. The legal department must ensure that Brown follows Internal Revenue Service guidelines concerning its tax-exempt status, as well as directives relating to benefits. The federal regulatory scheme is augmented by state regulations.

Soaring costs have proved a bane for colleges and universities. Ledbetter's team provides legal advice regarding proposals to solve the problem. Her department keeps abreast of the ramifications and possible pitfalls of scaling back spending as a means of addressing the cost crunch.

Route to present position: Ledbetter graduated from Howard University in 1965 and received her law degree in 1972 from the University of Colorado School of Law. Her first legal job was as co-director of the University of Colorado's legal aid program. She served as a legal counsel to the school until 1978, when she joined Brown as general counsel. Ledbetter is a one-time president of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. She served a nine-year stint as a member of the NCAA's infractions committee.

Personal: Ledbetter is a native Texan who enjoys collecting clocks, reading nonfiction and, when she finds the time, exploring bed-and-breakfasts. She is fascinated with England's Elizabethan era. Since coming to Brown, Ledbetter has been active in Rhode Island civic affairs. She leads the Girl Scouts of Rhode Island and formerly was head of the state's Urban League. She has been president of the Providence chapters of The Links Inc., a volunteer public service organization for black professional women, and of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. She is involved in efforts to assist women in African nations; helping to establish schools and digging wells in villages are two pet causes.

Last book and movie: The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, and The Queen.

Ledbetter particularly relishes the books of Erik Larson, whose "facts that read like fiction" remind Ledbetter of lawyers who have to cobble together information into coherent, factual and accurate stories.

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