University of Virginia Library

REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE NOMINATION OF
A PRESIDENT

The Rector then presented the Report of the Special Committee on the Nomination of a President:

Report of the Special Committee on the Nomination of a President by Edward E. Elson, Rector pro tem University of Virginia

On October 3, 1989, the Board of Visitors accepted the resignation of the University of Virginia's sixth president, Robert M. O'Neil, who has served with honor and commitment since his inauguration in the fall of 1985. Mr. O'Neil asked that his resignation be effective July 1, 1990, but indicated his willingness to remain in office for several more months if the additional time would assist the Committee in finding the best possible successor.

Bob O'Neil has brought to the University a special sense of social responsibility and has been untiring in his efforts to make this institution more accessible at every level. He has improved the educational experience for our students, and his administration has set into motion steps to make our nationally recognized undergraduate programs even stronger. He has been an articulate spokesman for higher education, and, as such, has projected the University of Virginia to its highest level of national recognition.

As prescribed by the Manual of the Board of Visitors, then Rector Joshua P. Darden Jr. appointed from the membership of the Board a Special Committee on the Nomination of a President. In addition to the eight Board members of the Committee, Mr. Darden appointed two members of the Faculty Senate and the student member of the Board of Visitors to serve as nonvoting members of the Committee. This unprecedented expansion of the Committee was intended to assure that these major constituencies of the University community would have a direct voice in the selection of the next president. On Thursday, I added to the committee all remaining members of the Board, including the new members, to involve them as fully as possible in our deliberations.

To broaden the process even further, the Committee convened a public meeting in the Rotunda on November 14, 1989, to listen to anyone who wished to suggest criteria by which candidates should be evaluated or characteristics they considered important in a University president. Nearly 20 speakers, representing the Charlottesville-Albemarle community, student and faculty organizations, and individual points of views, took the opportunity to address the Committee.

Later in the fall, committees of both the Faculty Senate and the Student Council submitted thoughtful written reports expressing their hopes for the University and the qualities of scholarship, leadership, and character they felt a president must have to attain those goals. At the same time, faculty, students, alumni, and others were asked to submit nominations to the Committee. Their contributions have been invaluable to us throughout these last five months.

Approximately 150 nominations were received and reviewed in detail by members of this Committee. The University is greatly indebted to these members for the hours spent in reading documents, attending meetings and interviewing candidates, and for the seriousness with which they have approached these responsibilities.

As the result of their work, the Committee is convinced that we have found in John Thomas Casteen III a man superbly qualified to become the University of Virginia's seventh president.

Many of you know him by virtue of his long-time ties with this University. He holds three degrees from the University of Virginia: a B.A. with high honors in 1965, a master's in English in 1966 and a Ph.D. in English in 1970. For seven years, from 1975 to 1982, he led the University's efforts to increase the quality and diversity of its student body as Dean of Admissions and a member of the English faculty.

Later, Virginia Governor Charles Robb appointed Mr. Casteen as his Secretary of Education, giving him valuable experiences with issues of state governance. Mr. Casteen became known as a strong advocate of enforcing rigorous educational standards, while at the same time pushing to accelerate access to higher education for minority students in the state.

The Committee was also impressed with Mr. Casteen's record while president of the University of Connecticut. During his more than four years as head of Connecticut's largest state university, there have been significant increases in research funds and endowed professorships, as well as improvements in its teaching and research programs.

A scholar of medieval literature who has continued teaching introductory courses even while a university president, Mr. Casteen has long been attentive to the quality and substance of undergraduate education. His concern for this fundamental component of a community of scholarship fits well with this University's educational mission.

In turn, Mr. Casteen would bring to the University of Virginia an unparalleled combination of academic, administrative and governmental experience that fully equips him to meet the challenges of higher education in the 1990's.

The Special Committee on the Nomination of a President recommends that Mr. Casteen be elected the University's next president.