As President John T. Casteen, III approaches the end of his term and the University's Special Committee on the Nomination of a President continues its search for his replacement, Focus looks back on the institution's seven presidents and their terms of office.\n\nEdwin Anderson Alderman (1905-31)
Edwin Alderman, the University's first president, held office from 1904 to 1931. A North Carolinian, Alderman came to the University after having served as president of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and then as the president of Tulane University in Louisiana, said Sandy Gilliam, University protocol and history officer.
Alderman was "widely recognized as a visionary and an organizer," Casteen stated in an e-mail. "Prior to coming here, he had seen the value of the new German plan for links between undergraduate and progressively more advanced graduate programs, including the new American doctorate as the final step."
Additionally, Casteen stated that Alderman refined and adapted this plan to the needs of public institutions when he brought doctoral programs to the University, and also broadened the curriculum by creating preprofessional tracks, the most notable of which was the Education School.
John Lloyd Newcomb (1931-47)
In 1931, Alderman died in office because of health complications. His assistant John Newcomb became acting president and remained so for two years until his formal inauguration, Gilliam said. Newcomb, however, was never the Board of Visitors' first choice for president, History Prof. Phyllis Leffler said. Since several candidates had declined the position, and also because Newcomb had been Alderman's main assistant and subsequently the interim president, he was chosen in 1933.
"The great thing about Newcomb was that he not only held this place together during tough economic circumstances but he was able to figure ways to build things," Gilliam said.
For example, Newcomb successfully completed the construction of Alderman Library during the height of the Great Depression.
Because of the economic circumstances, however, faculty took a 20 percent cut in salary under Newcomb. This cut helped save jobs and allowed the University to move forward, unlike many of its peer institutions during the depression, Leffler said.
Newcomb was also very knowledgeable about minute details regarding the University, which enabled him to "weather the storms of both war and a major depression," Leffler said.
"I doubt that one would call Mr. Newcomb a visionary, but he lived for the University - even to the extent of going from being president to being for the last few years [after his 1947 retirement] the construction engineer in charge of New Cabell," Casteen stated.
Colgate W. Darden, Jr. (1947-59)
As Newcomb's successor, former Virginia Gov. Colgate W. Darden, Jr. did not make a positive first impression on students at the beginning of his presidency, particularly because of negative comments he made about the Greek system, Leffler said. In addition, faculty mistrusted the new president because he was a former politician.
During his time as an undergraduate at the University, Darden had felt excluded from fraternity life, and as president commissioned Newcomb to build a student union - later named Newcomb Hall - in hopes of changing the student culture, Leffler said. The project was very controversial among the student body and many students protested at Darden's inauguration as a result, she added.
During Darden's presidency, the University absorbed large numbers of GI students - many of whom had families - in the aftermath of World War II. As a result, Darden needed to expand the University quickly, adding new programs and buildings.
"He knew Richmond very well, and knew how to talk to people and get things and petition the General Assembly for money," Gilliam said, adding that Darden's term marked the "beginning of a great period of building" in which McCormick dorms, Newcomb Hall, the College at Wise, New Cabell Hall and the Physics Building were built and the Engineering School and Health System were expanded.
Edgar F. Shannon, Jr. (1959-74)
Darden's successor was Edgar F. Shannon, Jr., who earned his recognition for transforming the University's character, Leffler said. For example, Shannon saw the University triple in size - from 5,000 to 15,000 students - and the enrollment of women as undergraduates changed the face of the College of Arts and Sciences during his presidency.
Because of the huge influx in enrollment, the University began to recruit faculty on a national level, Leffler said.
"The reputation of the University as an excellent academic place owes a huge amount to Shannon for his commitment to bring national attention to the University," she said.
Leffler also noted that a major student protest, known as May Days, took place in May 1970at various places on Grounds in reaction to the drafting of troops to Cambodia during the Vietnam War, but the University remained open at this time - unlike many other universities that faced similar protests. In what Leffler referred to as "Shannon's finest hour," Shannon was able to handle the protest without substantial violence or brutality.
Shannon delivered a memorable address on the steps of Rotunda to thousands of students stating that he would put his name on a petition to two major Virginia senators, thus formally issuing his own protest against the expansion of the Vietnam War, and encouraged students to sign, Leffler said. Shannon almost lost his job for taking a political position on the issue, but was able to quell the student riot because he "expressed his own conscience and let students know he was sympathetic and empathizing with them," Leffler said.
"Mr. Shannon's great accomplishment was building the Graduate School as the base for a national-class university and beginning the job of making the Alderman Library a great center for scholarship," Casteen said, noting that Shannon paved the way for the kind of fundraising that is now essential and "gave us the custom of practicing Thomas Jefferson's rule that here we will tolerate any error so long as reason is free to combat it."
Frank L. Hereford, Jr. (1974-85)
While most of Shannon's administration saw great support for higher education in Richmond and Washington, that support was drying up when Hereford became president, Gilliam said. Hereford recognized this and stated in his inaugural address that the University could not depend on public support, but needed to raise private money.
Hereford was a "hugely successful private fundraiser," Leffler said, and his administration created the first real capital campaign, which was successful and has continued to be successful through its modern-day successors, Gilliam said.
Hereford also tightened admission standards and began the first serious efforts to increase the representation of minorities among students and faculty, Gilliam said. At the time, though, many of Hereford's decisions in this regard were marred with controversy. A student-led march on Carr's Hill - then the residence of the University's president - as well as a series of protests about Hereford's racially-exclusive membership at the Farmington Country Club, took place during a time of significant change and upheaval on Grounds.
"He had the surest moral or ethical compass I have ever seen," Casteen stated, adding that "When facing a proposal or an offer that didn't pass his moral or ethical tests, he would say (quickly, clearly, and finally) 'Good God, no!'"
Robert M. O'Neil (1985-90)
O'Neil continued to build on what Hereford started in terms of diversifying the student and faculty bodies, and he also desired to increase the University's presence abroad.
Additionally, O'Neill set up three task forces, Leffler said, including one on the status of women at the University, because they didn't have the necessary support systems. As part of O'Neill's efforts, this task force set up the first childcare center at the University for faculty and staff.
There was also a task force on African American affairs, which changed the support systems for minority students, in addition to a substance abuse task force. Casteen stated that O'Neil's reputation was always grounded in his deep convictions about the Bill of Rights, and also in his planning and actions to begin moving the University onto the world stage.
John T. Casteen, III (1990-2009)
Casteen obtained his undergraduate, graduate and doctorate degrees at the University. In 1975 he served as dean of admissions for the University and, in 1982, left to become Virginia's Secretary of Education, Gilliam said.
After serving as president of the University of Connecticut, Casteen assumed the University's presidency in August of 1990.
Casteen "had been an exceptionally good Dean of Admissions" and as President he continued his efforts to make the student body more inclusive, to recruit more minority students, and to find ways to obtain more financial aid for students, Gilliam said.
At Casteen's urging, the AccessUVa program started, with an aim to make financial aid available to students in need. Casteen has also presided over the second large-scale capital campaign, and has made the University "much more of a globally oriented university than we ever have been," Gilliam added.
2010 will mark the end of Casteen's 20-year presidency, the longest presidency at the University since Alderman's 25-year term.
The Special Committee on the Nomination of a President recently released a position description which outlines the desired qualities in the next University leader. The description states that "It is widely believed that our next president should be a distinguished scholar and teacher who understands the academy, engages with students as a visible participant in the life of the University community, and translates Jefferson's vision into 21st century realities."
Additionally, it notes that the next president "must have a great passion for leading a public university" and should be an individual who "hires and develops great people and build effective teams that demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement and appreciation for diversity," one who "speaks out on the higher education challenges in the commonwealth and in the nation - diversity, access, affordability, accountability, and the urgency for a new funding model to ensure financial stability" and one who "embraces the culture and core values of the University - academic rigor, honor, civility and mutual respect, diversity, public service, and the student experience" among many other traits.
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