Two years ago, H. James Towey had never heard of St. Vincent College in Latrobe, but now he has agreed to leave his Cabinet-level job to become the college's president July 1.

H. James Towey

The college yesterday announced that Mr. Towey, 49, assistant to President Bush and director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, will become the second lay president in the Benedictine college's 160-year history.

The first is its current president and vice chancellor, James F. Will, 68, who has served for six years and will continue as vice chancellor and become president emeritus.

Like his predecessor, who is the retired president of Armco Inc., Mr. Towey didn't come from academia. He is an attorney.

Mr. Towey said he had received congratulations from lots of people, few of whom had heard of St. Vincent. Many, however, knew of Latrobe and golfer Arnold Palmer, who was born there, and Rolling Rock beer, which is made there.

"If Jim does as well at St. Vincent as he's done in Washington, he'll give Notre Dame a run for its money in a few years," said Seamus Hasson, chairman of The Becket Fund, a public interest religious-liberty law firm that serves all faiths.

"He was one of the few people I've ever known to work in the White House who, if you met him on the street, you wouldn't ever guess he worked at the White House. He carries himself as a humble, ordinary guy. He would befriend anybody," Mr. Hasson said.

Rich Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals, noted that Mr. Towey was able to work across party, philosophical and religious lines in his White House job.

"I think the world of him," said Mr. Cizik, who is associated with the more liberal wing of evangelicalism that favors environmentalism and other causes not linked to the religious right.

"He's professional, he's faithful and, very improbably in the strife-ridden world we live in, he's a bridge-builder and a peacemaker."

Mr. Towey's journey from the national stage to the 1,600-student campus began when he spoke at St. Vincent Seminary's graduation in 2004.

Mr. Towey had hit the road to promote the president's agenda and debate with college students. That included visits to campuses like Harvard, Yale and Princeton. He loved talking with college students, whom he views as more open to discussing ideas than some members of Congress.

"If you believe in something, you should be able to defend it in front of one person or 600," he said.

Last fall, Mr. Towey again was at St. Vincent, this time to speak at the Red Mass, a special service for attorneys.

Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki, chancellor of St. Vincent College and St. Vincent Seminary, told him that Mr. Will, who had intended to stay for five years at no pay and was in his sixth, might be leaving at the end of the school year.

"I had my eye on him," Archabbot Nowicki said.

Mr. Towey said that he and his wife, Mary, who have five children ranging in age from 3 to 13, prayed about it and decided to apply. The college chose him from about 70 applicants.

J. Christopher Donahue, chair of the St. Vincent College board of directors, praised Mr. Will's "extraordinary leadership" and called Mr. Towey an "experienced leader who is savvy, sound and smart."

In addition to his White House job, Mr. Towey's resume includes:

Representing the late Blessed Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity on legal matters in the United States and Canada from 1985 until her death in 1997.

Founding Aging with Dignity, a nonprofit group that provides the "Five Wishes," an advance directive document for making decisions on care during a serious illness, in 1996.

Mr. Towey worked his way through Florida State by being a manager of the basketball team, and he paid his way through law school as a graduate assistant coach for the team. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1978 and his law degree in 1981.

Mr. Towey is both a scholar and a gentleman, said the Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, a Catholic priest who is a leading conservative intellectual in matters of faith and public policy.

"He's not an academic scholar in the conventional sense, but he is extraordinarily well-read, very engaged in the great literature of Western civilization and Catholic tradition, especially in the area of literature and the arts," Father Neuhaus said.

Father Neuhaus expects Mr. Towey to raise the national visibility of St. Vincent College.

"He's extremely personable and able to get along with people from extraordinarily diverse backgrounds. Given that a college president these days has a major responsibility in terms of fund raising and instilling confidence in the school's leadership, I'd expect he'd do a bang-up job," Father Neuhaus said.

Mr. Towey, who is Catholic, said he is glad St. Vincent has a monastery -- there are about 185 monks in the archabbey -- and that it has religious diversity. About 60 percent of the students identify themselves as Catholic.

Mr. Towey vowed to talk to every St. Vincent student in his first year. He said he had a lot to learn and planned to listen to the entire college community.

"I believe with all my heart that St. Vincent College's greatest days are ahead," he said.