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Westminster College Selects Dr. Jane Wood as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College

Posted on Thursday, April 18, 2013

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - Westminster College selected Dr. Jane Wood to serve as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College following a national search. She will join Westminster August 1.

"We look forward to Jane Wood joining the Westminster College community and leading our outstanding faculty," Westminster President Dr. Richard Dorman said. "She is an accomplished and experienced administrator and faculty member who appreciates Westminster's mission and commitment to provide a high-quality, affordable, private education in a supportive environment."

"I look forward to joining the vibrant Westminster community and doing my best to serve the College and its faculty, staff, and students," Wood said.

Wood currently serves as the Dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Park University in Parkville, Missouri. She joined Park University as an Associate Professor of English and Chair of the English Department in 2006. Wood served as Department Chair for three years and interim Dean of the College from 2009-2011. She previously was the Director of the University of Missouri - Kansas City (UMKC) Women's Center and a lecturer in the UMKC English Department from 2002-2006. From 1999-2002, she was Chair of the Masters in Liberal Arts Program and Associate Professor of English at Baker University in Overland Park, Kansas.

Wood published The Theme of Peace and War in Virginia Woolf's War Writings (2010) and What Eve Didn't Tell Us (2002), a collection of autobiographical essays with co-author the Rev. Sue Dolquist. She is a past president of the Unicorn Theatre Board of Directors and former co-chair of the Governance Committee for The Writers Place.

She earned her master's degree and a doctorate in English from the University of Kansas. Wood received her bachelor's degree in English from the University of Missouri-Columbia and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Wood, a native of St. Joseph, Missouri, and her husband, Wayne McGaugh, have two children and two dachshunds.

She succeeds Dr. Jesse Mann, who served as Dean of the College since 2002 and will return to the classroom as professor of French.

The Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) brings vision and direction to Westminster's educational future by providing leadership and momentum for the faculty and the College's curriculum. The position provides oversight of the curriculum; is responsible for all faculty personnel matters; supervises academic departments; provides leadership on issues of program development and funding for program support; and manages all elements of the academic administration. As chief academic officer and member of the president's Cabinet, the VPAA serves as an advocate for the faculty and the academic program, maintains close communication with the president and fellow senior administrators, and serves in a liaison role to selected committees of the Board of Trustees.

Contact Dr. Jane Wood at (816) 584-6483 or email for additional information.

Dr. Jane Wood, new Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College as of August 1.