TEMPE March 9, 2004 (By Chris Fiscus, AZ Republic) - Sipping her drink in a Mill Avenue coffeehouse, Kimberly Loui blends in with everyone else from Arizona State University. Of course, this 28-year-old isn't one of the students.

She's charged with carrying out President Michael Crow's top initiatives. Already, she is called a catalyst behind efforts to create a research center that will focus on affordable housing. Crow also hopes to make the university more involved in community issues and solving local problems.

"He's sort of painted this picture of this new American university," said Loui, executive director of the Office of University Initiatives and a special adviser to Crow.

And he's turning to the Mesa native to help make it happen.

It's an interesting pick, given her age. She oversees a staff of 12, including one who is a Fulbright scholar.

But she's part of a wave of younger professionals getting their shot in an era that rewards ability, not necessarily years of service.

"She is one of the most important leaders at ASU," Crow said. "She brings wit and intelligence and the perspective of a new generation to our table. She does this with a grace and intellect that is very uncommon in anyone of any age."

Loui holds a bachelor's degree in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Arizona and a master's in science and technology policy from Columbia.

She can seem much older than her age, as on a recent day as she talked science policy and social change with 30 city leaders from China, then kicked around topics from social embeddedness to the digital media age to technology transfer.

She also can seem her age, enjoying people watching or talking about a hit TV show that is an obsession.

Loui knows her colleagues are intrigued with her age, but it's something she tries to downplay.

"I love what I do. But I definitely don't think, 'Oh, you know, this is so cool because I'm a particular age.' I don't think about that at all," she said. "And part of it is because, well, I don't know what I want to do when I'm 40 or I don't know what I want to do when I'm 50 or whatever it is. I'm happy to be where I am."

Like others advancing at a young age, though, she knows it can be interesting when everyone else in the room is the age of her parents.

"This morning I was in a meeting and the gentleman who was leading the meeting was using Hill Street Blues as an example and I said, 'Well, not all of us are from the Hill Street Blues generation.' He talked about Columbo. I've never seen Columbo and I said, 'Well, some of us know him (Peter Falk) better from Princess Bride.' "

If people were skeptical about her age, Crow adds, "they learned quickly that her abilities just make things happen."

One minute she is pursuing alliances with other institutions, the next she is pushing a Web site that will raise awareness of ASU's community outreach efforts. She also is called a driving force behind the ASU Stardust Center for Affordable Homes and the Family, which will study and promote affordable housing.

"Part of the reason why I love doing what I'm doing is because I believe in what I'm doing," she said.

She worked hard to get out of Arizona. Now that she's back, she hopes to make a difference where she grew up, as silly as that might sound. A 1993 graduate of Mesa's Dobson High School, she remembers Saturday morning trips to eat morning glory muffins at the same coffeehouse where she now sits as one of ASU's leaders.

"Knowing how things have been and then being able to do things and you can see it happening or you talk to people who it's changing their lives or whatever, people are really excited about things," she said. "That's the kind of thing that gives you the buzz that really makes it exciting and really makes you keep doing what you're doing. It's so personal in so many ways."

Crow climbed quickly in his career and doesn't focus on one's age. That opened the door for Loui. "If I was anywhere else, I realize that I wouldn't have the position that I have or do what I can do here."

Loui first caught Crow's eye as a student in his science and technology policy class at Columbia. "In that class she was one of less than 10 students to earn an A-plus in 11 years of teaching," he said.

He hired all of those students for a university initiatives office that he ran at Columbia. He said Loui "demonstrated a keen ability beyond her years" in that job, adding that she is "more than smart in the sense that she is wise."

As for her future, Loui's resume suggests that she's the type of person with a carefully designed plan. Not so, she said. "I never know what I'm going to be doing in the next two to six months."

"I could see myself running a business, I could see myself running for office, I could see myself remaining where I am, doing what I'm doing," she said of the future. "I think I've made the most out of where I've been.

"Sometimes people are always looking toward the next step and never really appreciating where they are."