In 1993-94, we welcomed a number of women and men into the leadership of the University and saluted those who moved on to other endeavors. Notable among the last was Thomas H. Jackson, who accepted the presidency of the University of Rochester after serving as our vice president and provost. Peter W. Low, associate dean and Hardy Cross Dillard Professor of Law, was named as his replacement. Peter L. Munger was appointed chief financial officer of the Medical Center, returning to the University of Virginia after holding positions at the University of Colorado and the Virginia Neurological Institute.

Other University administrators have been promoted and now assume greater responsibilities. Colette Capone, the University's associate vice president and budget director, was selected as vice president for management and budget.  Polley McClure, the associate vice president and chief information officer, was appointed vice president for information technology and communication. Ann R. Antrobus was appointed registrar, replacing Roger Printup, who became registrar at Stanford.

We also tapped leaders from outside the University. William W. Harmon, vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, was appointed vice president for student affairs, replacing Ernest H. Ern who was made senior vice president.

In addition, there has been a changing of the guard in the schools. Richard W. Miksad, an internationally known expert on ocean and aerospace engineering, has been appointed dean of the School of Engineering  and Applied Science, replacing Edgar A. Starke, Jr., who had served as dean since 1984. In the School of Architecture, William A. McDonough, an architect known worldwide for his promotion of environmental sustainability, was selected as dean, succeeding Daphne Spain, who had served as acting dean since Harry W. Porter resigned last year. And Robert H. Pate, Jr., has stepped in as interim dean of the Curry School of Education, replacing James M. Cooper.

There are a number of new faces on our Board of Visitors. Gov. George F. Allen selected Franklin K. Birckhead, C. Wilson McNeely, III, and Dr. Charles M. Caravati, Jr., at the end of February and appointed Elsie Goodwyn Holland in March. Gov. Allen also reappointed Rector Hovey S. Dabney to a second term.

Continuing into the New Century

It is a commonplace that many of the values that were second nature in our society twenty years ago now seem to have become less compelling or binding. But as President Casteen noted in a recent speech, Jefferson believed that "it is the nature of a culture to be fragile." In fact, Jefferson was a proponent of transience and the opportunity it provides for human hands to build anew.

The great value of the University of Virginia is that it serves both as a catalyst for change - as a stimulus for the highest expression of human intellect and spirit - and as a reminder of the humanist ideals that Jefferson himself held so dear and which he expressed in the order and balance of the Lawn. No matter how much our society changes, the University of Virginia will always remain committed to his conviction that knowledge, as it engenders responsibility and compassion, is the key to our freedom.