President’s Office

President Chris Wood

President Chris Wood

 

Chris A. Wood became the 15th president of Davis & Elkins College on August 1, 2016. A native of Huntington, West Virginia, President Wood graduated magna cum laude from West Virginia Wesleyan College. He earned his Master of Divinity degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Additional graduate study was undertaken at the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy.

President Wood served as vice president for advancement at Wesley College in Dover, Delaware, from 2009 until his appointment to Davis & Elkins College. During his tenure at Wesley, financial giving to the College increased by more than 400 percent, and he designed and implemented the first major comprehensive capital campaign. As president of D&E, he assumes responsibility for the completion of the $25 million McDonnell Challenge, which is a part of the College’s $100 million Secure the Future campaign.

As an ordained United Methodist pastor, President Wood served congregations in Illinois and Maryland from 1986 to 2000. He returned in 2000 to West Virginia to serve for six years as program and executive director of Mission West Virginia, Inc., an innovative and nationally recognized statewide non-profit organization that works to build capacity for community and faith-based organizations. Prior to serving at Wesley College, President Wood served from 2006-2009 as vice president for advancement at the University of Mount Olive in Mount Olive, North Carolina.

The president and his spouse, Lisa Messinger Wood, also a Huntington native, have two daughters, Lacey and Lexi. Along with their new miniature schnauzer puppies, Hallie and Henry, the Wood family resides at Hearthstone, the Davis & Elkins College president’s home.

Contact:

Chris Wood, President
Halliehurst
304-637-1243
email

Beth King, Executive Assistant to the President
Halliehurst
304-637-1243
email

Reflecting Along the Journey

Follow along by reading the President’s weekly “Reflecting Along the Journey” letter to the student body.

Board of Trustees
Joyce B. Allen William N. Johnston, Ed.D.
Mark S. Barber, ’75 (Chair) David H. Morrison, ’79
James Bialek, ’74 William Nuttall, ’70
Nathaniel Bonnell, ’03 John Ochsendorf
David E. Cutlip, ’77 (Vice Chair) Adam J. Ouellette, ’93
Melanie Dempsey, ’04 Reginald Owens, Sr., ’83 (Secretary)
Robert Douglas Dr. Robert G. Smith, ’65
Nancy Evans-Bennett, ’66 Louis W. Stark, ’76
Jennifer Giovannitti Chris A. Wood (ex officio)
Barry A. Greene, ’83 (Treasurer)
Karen H. Berner, ’64
James S. McDonnell, III
Dorothy H. Wamsley
Henry M. Moore
June B. Myles
Paul S. Stirrup, ’60
Leonard J. Timms Jr.
Robin Price, ’73