College Welcomes New Dean

L to R: Betsy Foote Casteen, wife of U.Va.President John T. Casteen III; Jahan Ramazani, chair, English Department; Meredith Jung-En Woo, dean, College of Arts & Sciences; James Galloway, professor, Environmental Sciences Department
Photo by Jane Haley

University President John T. Casteen III praised Woo as a “remarkably accomplished teacher, scholar and fundraiser who will provide strong leadership for the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences as it looks to improve its standing in the sciences, while at the same time expanding and enriching the College’s programs in the fine and performing arts.”

Previously,Woo was associate dean for social sciences in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts and professor of political science at the University of Michigan.

Author of numerous articles, books and an award-winning documentary film, Woo raised more than $8million for Korean Studies at U-M, and brought an important Korean ceramic art collection to its art museum.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton appointed her to the Presidential Commission on U.S.-Pacific Trade and Investment Policy. She has consulted for the World Bank, the United States Trade Representative, Asian Development Bank Institute, the Asia Foundation and The MacArthur Foundation. Educated in Korea and Japan through high school, Woo received her B.A. at Bowdoin College (English Literature and History), and two M.A.s (International Affairs and Latin American Studies) and a Ph.D. (Political Science) from Columbia University.

Woo also taught at Northwestern University, Colgate University and Columbia University. “The University of Virginia combines the goals and purposes of a public university while maintaining the highest excellence in research and scholarship—and it does so without compromising the quality of undergraduate education,” she said. “I am deeply honored to be coming to the University.”

Listen to Meredith Jung-En Woo discuss her appointment as dean.