UVa names presidential search committee

A 19-member committee has been appointed to find a successor to University of Virginia President John T. Casteen III, who will retire Aug. 1, 2010.

Serving on the committee are nine members of the board of visitors, six faculty members, two former rectors and two students. R. William Funk & Associates of Dallas will assist in the presidential search.

Representing the board of visitors on the committee are John O. Wynne, rector; W. Heywood Fralin, immediate past rector; Daniel R. Abramson, vice rector; A. Macdonald Caputo; Susan Y. Dorsey; Helen E. Dragas; Austin Ligon; Vincent J. Mastracco Jr.; and Warren M. Thompson.

Faculty representatives are Robert Fatton Jr., professor of government and foreign affairs; James N. Galloway, professor of environmental sciences; Ann B. Hamric, professor in the School of Nursing; John C. Jeffries Jr., professor of law; Deborah E. McDowell, director of the Carter G. Woodson Center for African American and African Studies; and Peyton T. Taylor, professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the School of Medicine.

Former rectors are Thomas F. Farrell II, who serves on the board for the university’s College at Wise, and Gordon F. Rainey, chairman of U.Va.‘s $3 billion capital campaign.

Student representatives are John A. Nelson, president of Student Council, and Jenifer S. Warner, a doctoral candidate in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Wynne, the rector, appointed the committee and will chair it.