DATE: Wednesday, November 5, 1997           TAG: 9711050358

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   43 lines

U.VA HEAD IS NAMED TO WACHOVIA BOARD SEAT

Wachovia Corp., the Winston-Salem, N.C.-based banking company expanding into Virginia, has named John T. Casteen III, president of the University of Virginia, to its board of directors.

Casteen, who has been president of the university since 1990, fills a new board seat designated for a representative of Jefferson Bankshares Inc. Wachovia completed its acquisition of Charlottesville-based Jefferson last Friday.

``You want to be engaged in service with a board that can be a major force on the state's economy,'' Casteen said Tuesday. ``Wachovia will be that kind of force.''

A 53-year-old Portsmouth native, Casteen served on Jefferson's board for seven years. He also has served on the boards of several education-related organizations, including the Commission on Colleges and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Casteen earned a bachelor's degree, master's degrees and a doctorate in English from the University of Virginia before embarking on an academic career. In addition to heading the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, he has been president of the University of Connecticut and served as Virginia's secretary of education.

Wachovia's 17-member board already includes one university president: Thomas K. Hearn Jr. of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem. However, most of the board members are chief executives of corporations based in the Carolinas and Georgia, including textile manufacturer Burlington Industries Inc. in Greensboro, Carolina Power & Light Co. in Raleigh, and BellSouth Corp. of Atlanta.

Wachovia, the 21st largest banking company in the country, is in the process of acquiring another Virginia banking concern, Central Fidelity Banks Inc. in Richmond.

Central Fidelity's shareholders are due to receive three seats on the Wachovia board when the two companies complete their merger. That transaction is scheduled to be completed in mid-December. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

John T. Casteen...

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