Remembering John T. Casteen III, Bibliophile and UVA President Emeritus


A photo of three men standing shoulder-to-shoulder, wearing dress jackets, white shirts, and ties. The man on the left has a red tie, the man in the middle a blue tie, and the man on the right a striped yellow-and-black tie.

Left to Right: Michael F. Suarez, S.J., Terry Belanger, and John T. Casteen III at the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) conference at UVA in June 2009

It is with profound sadness that we announce the death of John T. Casteen III on 18 March 2025, after a brief illness. A scholar of medieval literature and an advocate for public education, Casteen served with great distinction as the seventh president of the University of Virginia. Over the course of two decades (1990–2010), he guided UVA to greater national prominence, significantly expanded programs and facilities on Grounds, and led the University through two enormously successful capital campaigns. 

A visionary leader, Casteen brought Rare Book School to UVA from Columbia University in 1992, hiring RBS Founding Director Terry Belanger as University Professor and Honorary Curator of Special Collections and giving the School a new home in Alderman Library (now known as Shannon Library). Seventeen years later, President Casteen hired Michael F. Suarez, S.J. as Belanger’s successor.  

“John Casteen was directly responsible for the two best things that ever happened to Rare Book School,” says Belanger. “In October 1990, he invited the School to come to Charlottesville. And in January 2005, he told me that if I retired in 2009, he’d have time to find a successor for Rare Book School. And that was Michael Suarez.” 

Throughout his tenure as UVA President, Casteen was a stalwart supporter of Rare Book School. Shortly after stepping down as president of the university, he joined the RBS Board of Directors (2011–19), serving on three committees: Building & Technology, Development, and Campaign Leadership. Soon thereafter, he further demonstrated his commitment to bibliographical learning by becoming President of the Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia (2019–24). 

“John Casteen was an exceptional leader,” Suarez says. “His presence on the Rare Book School Board of Directors elevated our work and gave the School greater stature in the University. I am deeply grateful to John not only for his longstanding support of RBS, but also for his friendship.”  

He will be much missed. 

More information about President Casteen’s life and career can be found in UVA Today’s obituary.