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Ruth Shoemaker Wood '01

Ruth Wood

Wood, a resident of Princeton, N.J., is a consultant with Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates, an executive search firm specializing in senior-level searches for colleges and universities. Previously, she served as assistant dean of students at New York University's College of Arts and Sciences, a consultant to educational institutions experiencing organizational change and strategic planning challenges, and a career counselor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Wood's scholarly research focuses on the college presidency and cultural change at small liberal arts institutions. In 2012, the University of Delaware Press published her book, Transforming Campus Culture: Frank Aydelotte's Honors Experiment at Swarthmore College.

Since 2006, Wood has enjoyed teaching in the higher education graduate programs at NYU, Penn, CUNY, and Rider University, where she has developed courses including The College Presidency, Leadership in Higher Education, Research Methods, Campus Environments, History of American Colleges and Universities, Small Liberal Arts Colleges, and Student Affairs Administration, among others.  

Wood earned a B.A. in German and an English literature and educational studies special major with high honors from Swarthmore, an Ed.M. from Harvard, and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Wood joined the Board in 2012. She is a member of the American Planning Board of Humanity in Action. She is married to Michael R. Wood.