Dr. James Payne will retire at the end of the fall semester after 25 years of service to St. Edward’s University.

“There are many things that I will miss, particularly being able to talk with and get to know students,” Dr. Payne said.

He enjoyed the possibility to interact with students both in class and outside of class.

“One of the things that has been most enjoyable about St. Edward’s is getting to know some outstanding students and enjoying having them in my classes,” he said.

Dr. Payne has been at St. Edward’s since 1988 and has taught many different courses.

“I taught some social work courses, but then, as the general education program was put into effect, I moved to teaching some of the Culf courses and I was director of Capstone for several years,” he said.

But a few years ago Dr. Payne moved to the Global Studies and Latin American studies program.

“My move into the Global Studies and Latin American Studies majors was basically a return to what I had done as an undergraduate at UT Austin,” Dr. Payne said.

He studied Governments and Politics of Latin America and social work. He is very interested in Central American studies, and thus traveled in countries such as Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico.

Austin has been Dr. Payne’s home for a long time and he has seen it changing throughout the years.

“Austin has grown dramatically during that time and, in the last several years has taken on more of the metropolitan feel. When I came it was mainly just a large town with the state government and the University of Texas as the only significant parts of the culture and the economy,” he said.

Dr. Payne has also seen the changes happening at St. Edward’s. He participated in the beginning of the Global Studies and Central American studies programs, the general education courses, and he has witnessed the evolution of the international population.

“The student population has more than doubled and the improvements in facilities have been particularly dramatic with the new library, the new science building, and others,” Dr. Payne said.

Among the multiple courses taught at St. Edward’s, Dr. Payne has enjoyed the courses of the Latin American studies major and has especially liked freshman studies program.

“I have enjoyed many different classes, but my most enjoyable has been the freshman studies section on Current Political Controversies, which I have taught for the last eight years,” Dr. Payne said.

“I have particularly enjoyed having our growing number of international students in that class. Despite the changes of St. Edward’s, Dr. Paynes hope that the university keeps its asset of having interactions between students and faculty.

“I hope as St. Edward’s grows and becomes more administratively complex that the one-to-one relationships with students, which have previously been such an important part of what St. Edward’s is all about, will not be lost,” he said.

Dr. Payne has no plan of leaving Austin and wants to have an active retirement in helping the immigrant community. He does not fear the new occupations awaiting him.

“There are always new adventures to undertake and I am looking forward to doing some volunteer work in agencies assisting immigrants from Latin America,” he said.

The three weeks until the end of the semester are the only opportunity to stop by Dr. Payne’s office, filled with Central American art, on the second floor of Holy cross hall.