Criminal justice professor Harriet C. Frazier equally inspired Andrews. He remembers her response when he asked her how she could be so fervent about teaching. “As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, ‘Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.’”
With these words resonating in his mind, Andrews finished a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 1985 followed by his master’s a year later. Following three years with the Tulsa Juvenile Court, he joined the U.S. Secret Service, entering a career that first enthralled him at age 13. In the next 27 years, he built a career encompassing an exceptional track record of federal and state undercover investigations as well as protection details for presidents, vice presidents and foreign dignitaries.
In his first assignment, he led the Detroit Field Office in undercover investigations resulting in record state and federal arrests for three years in a row. He became a team leader of the Counter Assault Team for President Clinton’s Protective Detail and next was promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Field Office, one of the largest field offices in the USSS. He holds that position today.
Meanwhile, he was assigned to Vice President Cheney’s Detail before being promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the USSS Training Center. He then was promoted to Special Agent in Charge of the field office in Oklahoma City, his hometown, where he has hosted an honors group from UCM every year for a tour of the OKC Memorial, his office and the state’s federal prison.
Andrews says he often reflects on the lessons he learned playing football on the grass fields of Walton Stadium and studying in the classrooms of the Humphreys Building.
“Those lessons of relentlessly pursuing perfection and having unbridled enthusiasm have resulted in me having a wildly successful and productive career. I feel blessed to have attended Central Missouri.”