Many of Barack Obama’s more-conservative former colleagues at the University of Chicago Law School described him as someone of whom they were fond even if they didn’t see eye to eye, according to a story in The New Republic about the presidential candidate’s tenure as a lecturer on constitutional law.

Some faculty members grumbled that Mr. Obama rarely participated in faculty seminars and workshops, largely due to the schedule he kept as a state legislator, and said he was “not someone who came to lunch when the topic wasn’t one of his choosing,” according to the story.

But other professors told The New Republic that Mr. Obama was particularly good at bonding with students and serving as a mentor to them. They also said that the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate tried to understand his colleagues’ point of view even if he didn’t agree with them.

Daniel Fischel, who was dean of the law school when Mr. Obama taught there, was quoted in the story as saying that he has never voted for a Democrat, and that Mr. Obama is “the first one I might vote for.”

“He’s much more intellectual, much more thoughtful, much more interested in discussion, debate, and dialogue than the typical politician,” Mr. Fischel was quoted as saying of the presumed Democratic presidential nominee. “And that gives me some confidence about him, even though from my perspective he’s much too liberal.”