Yale Bulletin and Calendar

January 21, 2000

Volume 28, Number 17

Richard J. Wood

Divinity School dean to retire in 2001

Richard J. Wood, dean of the Divinity School, has announced that he plans to retire in June 2001, at the end of his five-year term.

In a letter to the Divinity School community on Jan. 14, Wood wrote that he felt he had accomplished the tasks that brought him to Yale in 1996 -- strengthening the faculty and student body, increasing alumni support, bringing the budget under contro and completing a plan to rebuild the Sterling Divinity Quadrangle at 409 Prospect St.

"I want to express my gratitude to our really wonderful faculty, and to the administrators and staff who have made possible this rapid turnaround," said Wood. "I am making the announcement now to facilitate a smooth transition in leadership that will lead YDS into the next phase of its service to the churches and the University."

President Richard C. Levin said, "As Dean Wood announces his intention to retire at the end of his current term, I want to underscore his outstanding accomplishments. There has been progress on all fronts, but most impressive to me has been the quality of faculty appointments made during these past three and one-half years. Faced with the retirement of a generation of distinguished scholars, the Divinity School has wisely selected, and the Dean has ably recruited, a new generation of such quality as to firmly secure Yale's position as the leading center for theological scholarship in the nation."

Before coming to Yale in 1996, Wood served for 11 years as president of Earlham College, where he was a professor in the Department of Philosophy.

A specialist in Japanese philosophical and religious thought, Wood earned his Ph.D. from Yale in 1965.

He was twice a visiting professor at Waseda University in Tokyo, and for many years was responsible for the administration of the Japan Study Program of the Great Lakes Colleges Association and Associated Colleges of the Midwest. He is chair of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission and the American panel of the U.S. Japan Cultural and Education Exchange Conference of the United States Government.

In addition to serving on the board of advisers of Duke University (Trinity College), Wood is on the advisory board of the national Foreign Language Center and served as chair of the board of directors of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Wood is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church and a recorded Quaker minister of the Religious Society of Friends.

He is on the editorial advisory boards of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Liberal Education and the Daily Japan Digest. His most recent articles include "Exchange in a Borderless World Economy" in Towards Transnational Competence, and "Quaker Visions of Religious Pluralism" in Friends Journal.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Paul Rand Center to honor celebrated graphic designer

U.S. embargo causing health crisis in Cuba, says physician

University extends Homebuyer Program

Exhibit features new works by Jasper Johns

Dean announces plans to retire

Yale's early preparation for Y2K resulted in smooth transition

Memorial service is scheduled for C. Vann Woodward

Paul Sigler, a pioneer in the field of structural biology, dies

Paul Rand's widow donates artist's personal papers to Yale

Peabody Museum's 'Martian Perspectives' exhibit offers 3-D views of the 'Red Planet'

Yale Opera to perform romantic classic 'La bohème'

British Art Center joining global celebration of legacy of artist and critic John Ruskin

The light of Elie Lascaux shines in JE exhibit of his works

Science Park firm to distribute byproducts of Yale research

Religious values integral to politics, says Ralph Reed says

Art by and about Asian women featured in gallery's display

Center showcases 20th-century art

Performance artist Karen Finley will present her newest work at the Rep

Chinese artist's paintings capture 'The Allure of Tibet'

Noted journalist to talk about government as Poynter Fellow

Leading architects to teach and talk at Yale this spring

Library exhibit features work of noted German woodcut artist, illustrator

Memorial concert features award-winning duo

Yale Scoreboard

Lamb to lead Bulldogs field hockey team 'to the next level'

Employees invited to basketball games

Kennedy to discuss 'Global Century' series

Victoria Nolan is honored for her guidance in the arts

Daniel Rosner honored for research on aerosols

. . . In the News . . .