After roughly 20 years of working in commercial real estate, Andrew Babula recently made the transition to academia – specifically, as director of the real estate program at the University of St. Thomas. Babula, who started his new job in September, has worked in commercial leasing and development, strategy and brokerage. He fills a position left vacant by the death of Herb Tousley, who directed the school’s real estate program from 2009 until his passing in January 2020. A native of Ohio, Babula moved to the Twin Cities about 18 years ago to do real estate development for Target Corp. His resume includes stints with large companies like Target, UnitedHealth Group, JLL, as well as smaller firms. In the following interview, Babula speaks with Reporter Brian Johnson about the present and future of the St. Thomas real estate program, efforts to diversify the industry and more.