Office of the Dean
Christa Davis Acampora
Dean, College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
Christa Davis Acampora is the Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia.
She is focused on leading the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences to realize a vision that aligns with the University’s 2030 plan, recognizing that the pathway for UVA to become the best public in the nation and one of the best universities anywhere in the world runs directly through Arts & Sciences.
To achieve this, A&S seeks to deliver a second to none undergraduate experience that is also an unprecedented achievement in public higher education; recruit,advance, and re-recruit extraordinary talent; garner national and international recognition for research excellence and academic innovation across the Arts &Sciences divisions; and focus on graduate excellence and expand the resource-base to support it. The importance of the latter has led to a significant focus of philanthropic energy to double the size of the endowment for the Graduate School and increase graduate fellowship support. A signal intention guiding Acampora’s work is to foster a deep sense of belonging for all members of the community.
Acampora's academic training is in philosophy, and she has a distinguished record of research and scholarship in modern European philosophy, moral psychology, and aesthetics. She is author, co-author, or editor of seven books and has published dozens of articles and book chapters. Her philosophical interests range from artificial intelligence and conceptions of responsibility to the beauty of baseball. Currently, she is examining various forms of moral breakdown and what they reveal about morality more generally. Her book-in-progress develops a conceptual framework for analyses of moral transformation, injury, and repair in various contexts, including the experiences of veterans, healthcare workers, and other populations.
Prior to joining UVA, Acampora served as Professor of Philosophy and Deputy Provost at Emory University, where she was the chief deputy to the provost and a strategic thought partner for stewarding Emory’s academic mission. She supported faculty and leadership recruitment, faculty advancement, student flourishing, institutional development, and academic innovation, and she worked closely with the vice provosts and staff, deans, and other campus leaders to advance initiatives and implement strategic goals and objectives. She has led numerous projects that span the full spectrum of disciplines and professions, and she is a champion of public scholarship and community-engaged learning. Before joining the faculty at Emory, she taught and mentored students at Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY) and the CUNY Graduate Center and served as the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and Research.
Acampora is a native of the Commonwealth, born and raised in Roanoke. She earned her Bachelor of Arts cum laude in philosophy from Hollins University and her Ph.D. in philosophy from Emory University.