In building a university to meet the needs of the new century, University planners have not forgotten the achievements of the past. This spring, President Casteen honored the accomplishments of a dedicated group of retiring faculty, descendants in spirit of the original faculty Jefferson hired, including former deans, winners of state and University teaching honors, Fulbright Award recipients, and members of distinguished professional organizations. Over a period of decades, they have served as mentors -- teaching, challenging, and guiding their students.

We mourned the deaths of University community members, including former architecture school dean Joseph N. Bosserman; former dean of the medical school Dr. Thomas Harrison Hunter; law professor Richard B. Lillich; pediatrics professor Dr. Robert J. Roberts; Ann Lane Hereford, wife of former president Frank L. Hereford, Jr.; chief of staff Elizabeth Zintl; and, in August, the University's fourth president, Edgar F. Shannon, Jr.

The community remembered its former president at a memorial service held in Old Cabell Hall. Shannon joined the faculty in 1956 as an associate professor and was tapped for the presidency just three years later, a post he filled for fifteen years. During his tenure, his high moral integrity and dignity were instrumental in enabling the University to integrate women and minorities into the community, to face the challenges posed by the Vietnam War, and to accommodate growth in enrollment from 5,000 to 15,000 students.

The continuity that binds together successive generations at the University was symbolized until recently by the McGuffey Ash tree. This enormous Biltmore Ash was planted behind Pavilion IX in 1826 by Professor George Tucker. In 1990, it was finally cut down, weakened by wind damage, lightning strikes, and age. This year, the University planted a ten-foot sapling grown from the McGuffey Ash on the site where the original tree stood.