The seventh person to serve as the President of the University of Virginia died this week at the age of 81.
John T. Casteen III served in the role from 1990 to 2010 before retiring from administration, though he continued to teach.
“John Casteen is simply inseparable from the story of UVA,” said current president Jim Ryan in an article published by UVA Today. “John will be remembered as an ambitious, wise and devoted leader whose legacy will endure at the University of Virginia.”
When Casteen began his tenure, the UVA endowment was at $488 million and increased to $5.1 billion. A reason to raise that much money was to protect UVA from cuts from the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Casteen himself entered as an undergraduate at the age of 17 and earned three degrees in English. After a period of teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, Casteen came back to Charlottesville to become dean of admission in 1975. In 1982 he was appointed to serve as the Virginia Secretary of Education and left that position in 1985 to serve as president of the University of Connecticut.
The AccessUVA program formed under Casteen’s watch. In lieu of flowers, his family has asked people consider a donation to the financial aid program.
Top photo: John T. Casteen III poses for a UVA Today photo in 2021, as he wrapped up his teaching duties. Casteen continued to teach at UVA for more than a decade after he retired as president in 2010, earning the title of University Professor. (University Communications photo)
Before you go: This story was first posted in the March 22, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Go take a look at that and three other stories!
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