Jane Wood Ph.D., will be inaugurated as Bluffton University’s 10th president at 3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 28, in Yoder Recital Hall.

Alumni and community members are invited to watch the ceremony at https://livestream.com/bluffton. The event will include remarks from community, campus and religious leaders.

Dr. Wood will be installed as president by Kent Yoder, chair of the Bluffton University Board of Trustees. She will share an inaugural address with the message “Shine the Light.” A community reception will be held on the Yoder Recital Hall lawn following the ceremony.

Dr. Wood is 10th university president
Dr. Wood became the tenth president of Bluffton University in July 2018. A native of St. Joseph, Missouri, Dr. Wood earned her bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Missouri. She went on to earn her master’s degree, followed by her doctorate in English literature from the University of Kansas.

Dr. Wood has more than 20 years of experience in higher education including serving as a tenured faculty member, department chair, academic dean and vice president. She has demonstrated success in working collaboratively to develop strategic plans, spur enrollment growth and develop academic programs for undergraduate, adult and graduate-level students.

Prior to coming to Bluffton, Dr. Wood served as the vice president of academic affairs and dean at Mount Marty College, a Benedictine liberal arts and co-educational institution in Yankton, South Dakota.

For three years, starting in 2013, Dr. Wood served as vice president of academic affairs and dean at Westminster College, a Presbyterian institution in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.

At Park University in Missouri, Dr. Wood served in a variety of roles including professor of English, chair of the department of English, interim dean and dean of the college of liberal arts and sciences, and special assistant to the provost for institutional accreditation.

She was the director of the University of Missouri—Kansas City Women’s Center and a lecturer in the UMKC English department for four years, starting in 2002.

From 1999 to 2002 she served as the chair of the masters in liberal arts program and associate professor of English at Baker University in Overland Park, Kansas.

Raised in the United Methodist Church and having served at both Catholic and Protestant institutions, Dr. Wood has a heart for the importance of faith in both the lives of individuals and within institutions of higher education. A trained mediator, she also has a passion for social justice.

Dr. Wood and her husband, Wayne McGaugh, have two adult daughters.