UVA names Christa Acampora dean of college and graduate school of arts and sciences

The University of Virginia has announced that Christa D. Acampora has been appointed the dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, effective Sept. 1.

Acampora, born in Roanoke and raised in Dublin, is currently deputy provost and professor of philosophy at Emory University in Atlanta. Prior to Emory, she was a member of the faculty at Hunter College and the City University of New York’s Graduate Center and served as Hunter’s associate provost for faculty affairs and research.

“Christa will be a tremendous asset to the university,” provost Ian Baucom said in a news release. “She has a profound grasp of the opportunities facing the college, along with the breadth of experience the role demands. From strategic planning to faculty recruitment, from research development to strengthening the undergraduate experience, she is prepared to work with colleagues across arts and sciences and the university to develop and implement transformative programming. I anticipate great things for the school with her at the helm.”

As deputy provost, Acampora manages a wide slate of strategic and budgetary priorities related to the academic mission at Emory, overseeing academic program development, faculty recruitment and retention, and initiatives in support of undergraduate flourishing – including student innovation and career advising. Most recently, she managed the process of ensuring Emory’s academic continuity after the move online during the pandemic.

“I am enormously grateful for the opportunity to lead arts and sciences at a time when UVA is charting an ambitious path forward,” Acampora said. “I look forward to working with faculty, staff and students as well as leaders across UVA to build upon the college’s well-earned reputation for excellence.”

In addition to her professional accomplishments, Acampora is an acclaimed philosopher and expert in modern European philosophy, moral psychology and aesthetics. Most of her publications focus on philosophical questions and themes arising in Nietzsche’s philosophy, which she puts in dialogue with contemporary views. Her current research focuses on morality and moral injury – specifically among veterans, but also among other populations such as refugees, health care workers and those experiencing the impact of institutionalized racism.

“Christa has a philosopher’s sense for analyzing complexities, combined with a scholar’s love of academia,” said Ravi V. Bellamkonda, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Emory University. “She has a deep understanding of the important issues influencing higher education and is gifted at executing complex initiatives, and I’m grateful for her service to Emory and thrilled for her as she takes on this outstanding leadership opportunity at the University of Virginia.”