John T. Casteen III, who served as president of the University of Connecticut, died on March 18 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 81 at the time of his passing.
Casteen served as UConn president from 1985 through 1990. According to a UConn Today article, Casteen’s time at UConn “focused on undergraduate program reform, expansion of the graduate program and support for the research of a growing faculty — all initiatives meant to strengthen the liberal arts core of UConn.”
UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said that the university is grateful for his contributions to UConn.
“President Casteen’s contributions helped UConn continue to build on its strong foundations and position it for the next generation. We’re grateful for the time and energy he gave to UConn, and for the legacy he left through his foresight and service to our students and community,” Reitz said.
While Casteen was president, he worked to grow UConn’s international education and scholarships and made enhancements to UConn’s library systems and special collections, according to his obituary.
During Casteen’s presidency, UConn became the first public New England university to enter the top-tier ranking of Doctoral Universities-Very High Research Activity (R1) of the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
“During a period of budget cuts at the state level, Casteen oversaw a broad and far-reaching series of capital and programmatic growth initiatives intended to give a sound financial footing to a growing institution. Both knowledge production and fundraising projects flourished under his leadership as he diversified the university’s administrative body,” according to his obituary.
Casteen left UConn in 1990 to become the president of the University of Virginia. He held this position until his retirement in 2010, where he was named president emeritus.
Casteen grew up in Portsmouth, Va. and attended the University of Virginia, where he received a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and Ph.D. in English. Before he became president of UConn, he served as the Virginia Secretary of Education.
He is survived by his wife Elizabeth Casteen and his three children, Elizabeth I. Casteen, John T. Casteen IV and Lars Casteen.
A public memorial service will be held at the University of Virginia in the coming months.