UVA Unveils New Portrait of President Emeritus John T. Casteen III

Casteen, who holds three English degrees from the University, served as UVA’s seventh president from 1990 to 2010 – the second-longest tenure of any UVA president. (Edwin Alderman, the University’s first president, served from 1905 to 1931.)

“John did nothing less than lead the transformation of UVA into a world-class university,” President Jim Ryan said during the unveiling, held during the Board of Visitors luncheon in the Rotunda Dome Room.

Casteen’s administration also admitted more women, international students and minority students while adding 20 new degree programs. He oversaw dramatic increases in financial aid, opening UVA to students who previously could not have considered attending. To this day, UVA reviews admissions applications without a family’s income playing any role, and maintains its commitment to meet the full, demonstrated financial need of all undergraduate students.

Because of Casteen’s dedication to diversifying the student body, the University’s leadership in diversity, equity and inclusion award bears his name.

“His two decades as president molded UVA into the Grounds it is today,” Ryan said, noting that Casteen’s administration built or purchased dozens of new buildings and invested heavily in landscaping to improve the beauty of Grounds. It also significantly grew the University Library’s holdings and special collections, oversaw dramatic health system growth, and led two successful capital campaigns.

“I’m incredibly grateful to John for his service, his leadership, and his wise counsel to me,” Ryan said. “And I couldn’t be more pleased to unveil a portrait that will be an enduring symbol of his legacy.”

During his term as president, Casteen and his staff increased the University’s endowment from $488 million to $5.1 billion. That financial growth came despite major state budget cuts in the 1990s. Casteen more than made up for the state budget shortfall with shrewd financial restructuring and tireless fundraising.

Casteen’s portrait, created by artist Jonathan Linton, will hang in the Rotunda’s North Oval Room. It is part of the University’s Fine and Decorative Arts Collection of the Albert & Shirley Small Special Collections Library.

A portrait of President Emerita Teresa A. Sullivan, UVA’s eighth and first female president, will be added in the spring.

They are among a number of portraits, photographs and commemorative markers created in recent years to honor those who have made lasting contributions to the University community. Others have depicted the late civil rights champion and longtime UVA professor Julian Bond; George Keith Martin, UVA’s first African American rector; longtime creative writing professor and former U.S. poet laureate Rita Dove; and Cynthia Goodrich Kuhn, one of the first women admitted to UVA in 1970.