Joyce and Howard Wood, both alumni of the John M. Olin School of Business, have created the Joyce and Howard Wood Distinguished Professorship in Business. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton announced the gift of $1.7 million, which has been augmented with $300,000 from the University’s Sesquicentennial Endowed Professorship Challenge. William P. Bottom, Ph.D., will be formally installed as the first holder of this professorship at a later date.
“One could not ask for more dedicated and generous alumni than Joyce and Howard Wood,” Wrighton noted. “We are very grateful for their continued involvement with Washington University and we are honored to have their name associated with us in perpetuity.”
Bottom has been a member of the Olin School faculty since 1988 when he joined the University as an assistant professor of organizational behavior. He was promoted to associate professor in 1993 and full professor in 1997. Bottom served as the first Marcile and James Reid Professor at Olin, an award given for teaching excellence among junior faculty.
“Bill Bottom is an outstanding teacher and researcher in his field, and I am delighted that he is being recognized with this distinguished professorship,” Stuart I. Greenbaum, Ph.D., dean of the John M. Olin School of Business and Bank of America Professor, said. In addition to his scholarship, Bottom holds administrative responsibilities as senior associate dean and director of the Ph.D. program at the Olin School.
Bottom’s areas of expertise include negotiation, team development, leadership, organizational behavior and organization design. His research has been recognized with grants from the National Science Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, and Washington University’s Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy. He has been widely published in scholarly journals in the fields of psychology, political science, and management. In addition, he is on the editorial boards of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes and the SSNR Journal on Negotiation and Conflict. Recently, he served as executive director of the International Association for Conflict Management and as a member of the advisory panel for the Decision, Risk and Management Science Program at the National Science Foundation.
In addition to his extensive teaching and research, Bottom works as a consultant and trainer for companies that include Anheuser-Busch, BJC Health Systems, Charter Communications, Detroit Edison, IBM, and Monsanto. He received a bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree in psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Howard Wood is a veteran volunteer leader and advisor for the Olin School, having served on the original 1980-81 Business Task Force, which was part of the Commission on the Future of Washington University. He currently is a member of its National Council. “Joyce and Howard Woods’ leadership has made a significant impact on Olin’s rise as a leading business school. They have inspired countless fellow alumni to support the school. Their efforts on behalf of their alma mater truly have made a difference,” said Greenbaum. In 2000, the couple received the Dean’s Medal from the Olin School.
Joyce Wood, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1976 and a master’s degree in 1977, and Howard Wood, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1961, have much in common. They both went to Washington University, they both are certified public accountants, they both have enjoyed very successful careers, and they both credit the education they received from the University as having a major role in their successes.
“It’s logical for us to want to give back to Washington University. It’s the place we credit for much of our success,” Joyce Wood said. “We both grew up in families that believe in giving back to the community.”
In 1999, the couple gave back in a major way by establishing the Wood Leadership Fellows Program with a $6.6 million commitment to the Olin School. The fellowships provide two-year, full-tuition grants to up to 15 incoming MBA students. “We’ve met many of the Wood Fellows and they are a wonderful group of people, tremendously talented,” Howard Wood noted.
After graduation, Joyce Wood joined Arthur Andersen & Company in St. Louis as a certified public accountant. Currently she is a principal of Wood & Associates, a management consulting firm based in their home town of Bonne Terre, Mo.
Howard Wood also began his CPA career at Arthur Andersen and rose to the position of partner in charge of the St. Louis office tax division and as regional tax partner. In 1987, he changed careers and became president and chief executive officer of Cencom Cable TV, a multiple system cable operator. In 1993 he co-founded another cable television firm, Charter Communications Inc., which has grown into the fourth largest cable operation in the United States. After the sale of Charter in 1999, he left in 2001 to form Cequel III LLC, where he is chairman. Cequel is an investor and operator in the cable television and communication towers businesses. The Woods also spend considerable time managing their private companies and cattle ranch in Bonne Terre, Mo.
Howard Wood served as president of the Olin School’s Alumni Association, and was recognized with Olin’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1992 and the University’s Founders Day Award in 1996.
Washington University is not the only institution benefiting from the Woods’ support. Possessing a strong sense of civic duty, Joyce Wood has been actively involved in her local Chamber of Commerce and has served as past president and as a board member. She also served as past president for Bonne Terre’s regional Council of Chambers. Currently, she chairs the Chamber Transportation Committee. In addition, she chairs the Board of Trustees of the Parkland Health Center; is a member of the Missouri Baptist Hospital Board; and serves on the Board of the St. Louis Trust Company.
Howard Wood’s civic involvements include having served for six years as one of four commissioners appointed by the Governor to the Missouri Conservation Commission in 1997; as director of the Conservation Federation of Missouri; and as the Federation’s president from 1984 to 1985. He also has co-chaired the Olympic Festival Organizing Committee, the group responsible for attracting the 1994 Olympic Festival to St. Louis. Furthermore, he has served on a number of corporate boards, both public and private, and is a member of Washington University’s Board of Trustees.