Former University of Connecticut President John T. Casteen III, who served the University from 1985-90, died Tuesday after a brief bout with pancreatic cancer. He was 81.

Casteen’s presidency at UConn focused on undergraduate program reform, expansion of the graduate program and support for the research of a growing faculty — all initiatives meant to strengthen the liberal arts core of UConn. This core included a growing emphasis on international education and scholarship, including and especially programs in Poland and Turkey, and enhancements to the University’s library systems and special collections.

Casteen oversaw a broad and far-reaching series of capital and programmatic growth initiatives intended to give a sound financial footing to a growing institution. Both knowledge production and fundraising projects flourished under his leadership as he diversified the University’s administrative body.

In 1987, UConn became the first public university in New England to ascend to the top-tier ranking of Doctoral Universities-Very High Research Activity (R1) of the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

Casteen left UConn in 1990 to become the president of the University of Virginia, a position he held for 20 years before retirement, when he was named president emeritus. Casteen had been Virginia’s Secretary of Education when he was named to the UConn presidency.

He is survived by his wife Elizabeth Casteen; daughter Elizabeth Ingeborg Casteen (Frank Chang) of Binghamton, N.Y., sons John Thomas Casteen IV (Siân White) of Charlottesville, Va., and Lars Löfgren Casteen (Sonia Von Gutfeld) of Jackson Heights, Queens, and stepdaughters Alexandra Taylor Foote of Chattanooga, Tennessee and Elizabeth Laura Robinson (Elliot Robinson) of Macon, Georgia; brothers Dennis and Tim Casteen; and 12 grandchildren.

A public memorial service at the University of Virginia will be held later this spring.