Roughly 10 years ago, John Iacovelli would not have given a moment's thought to teaching. But that changed in 1989 when two students pursued the set designer, after a preview performance of A Burning Beach, for which Iacovelli had designed the set. They hoped to persuade him to join the faculty of UC Riverside. They succeeded.

"There are a lot of teachers in my family, and it never seemed to be a rewarding job," Iacovelli said.

But he decided to give it a try. And during the last decade the acclaimed scenic designer has found yet another career he loves as well as a new home at UC Davis.

Iacovelli's credits range from theater, to film and television. And in April, he was honored for these works with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Scene Design from the LA Drama Critics Circle.

Then last week his current work for Side Man made its debut at the Pasadena Playhouse. "It is a multi-set show with a romantic depiction of the jazz scene in New York," Iacovelli explained. He also designed the 1999 Tony-nominated best revival of Peter Pan.

Because Iacovelli is a professional outside the classroom, graduate student Amy Avina believes he helps prove that one person can manage multiple careers. "His life is crazy, but he shows us that you can push how much you take on and how to manage it."

Iacovelli credits his successful juggling act of teaching and designing to time-management and good assistants. In fact, he says he often uses his students as interns on his projects. In turn, the students get a first-rate introduction to a world of dramatic avenues. Last quarter, for instance, Iacovelli took nine UC Davis students to Los Angeles to observe the production of "The Old Settler," a PBS special for which he worked as a production designer. The show aired in late April.

Iacovelli joined the UC Davis staff in July and began teaching in the fall. But it wasn't his first experience with the campus. Two years ago he was a guest artist for the production of Summerfolk.

Previously, he was a professor in the theater department and head of design at UC Riverside. He transferred to UC Davis to work with graduate students, which UC Riverside's theater department does not have. Iacovelli said he hopes to offer the grad students "advanced thinking about design."

Avina appreciates the emphasis on practicality in design Iacovelli brings to his classes. What's a key concept she has learned from the professor? Detail, detail, detail.

"Attention to detail can make the difference between set dressing and the environment that really comes alive," she said.

Iacovelli also tries to help students with another of the more practical aspects of working in scenic design - simply finding work. "I can mentor them and get them jobs in theater, film and television," he said.

Avina believes students will definitely benefit from contacts Iacovelli helps them make. "People he knows are themselves a network that students can tap into," she said.

Currently, Iacovelli teaches a collaborative class about design and technical aspects of dramatic art, which emphasizes painting and construction. His previous classes include visual aspects of dramatic art and principles of scenery in theatrical design.

And in January he began a two-quarter independent film workshop class. During winter quarter, the class's project was to make a 30-second commercial; now their task is a three-minute film.

Iacovelli said he does not want to compete with the film studies classes, but rather his students want to learn the basics about filmmaking. "They're a small group of independently-minded kids," he said.

Aside from his classes, Iacovelli designs the set for one show per year for the drama department. Last fall that show was Hedda Gabbler. And, next spring Iacovelli will help bring to the stage a new production of Wit, Avina's directorial thesis project.

The upcoming collaboration has him enthused. "I feel the (master's students) should get the benefit of the professionals," he said. He also noted that the students are fortunate to have professional English directors and designers from New York and Los Angeles as visiting faculty.

Iacovelli realized his first professional calling quite early in life.

As a child he loved to play with a puppet theater his father built for him out of cardboard, lighting it with clip lights. He found himself especially captivated by the interchangeable backdrops made of paper and drawn in false perspective. But he didn't realize the depths of his fascination until he started pursuing an undergraduate design degree at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He followed that with a master's from New York University.

Although he says his heart belongs to the theater, Iacovelli said he enjoys working with all media. "Sometimes a solution or technique you find in one media works great or illuminates a solution in another media."

When not teaching, he works as a production designer for a variety of television shows including "Resurrection Blvd.," "The Old Settler" and "WarGames." Past projects have included serving as art director for "The Cosby Show" and the movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and production designer for television's "Babylon 5."

As profession mixes with teaching at UC Davis, Iacovelli said it's very rewarding to see his students succeed, albeit a bit unnerving. For instance, the time he found a former student working on a television show down the hall from where Iacovelli's own show was shooting. "I feel like I need to watch my back," Iacovelli said smiling. "Am I training my own competition?"