Wood Named Assistant Dean of Bumpers College's International and Honors Programs

University Relations

After serving as director of both programs, Lisa Wood has been named assistant dean of Bumpers College's international and honors programs.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Lisa Wood, clinical associate professor in the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences, has been named assistant dean for International and Honors Programs for U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

In addition to teaching responsibilities, Wood has served as director of Bumpers College's international programs since January 2018 and as interim director of the honors program since July 2019. She has been a member of the college's faculty since 2012.

As assistant dean, she will have oversight of the international and honors programs, and associated graduate assistants. She will develop direction, policies and operations for both areas in coordination with Dean Deacue Fields, Associate Dean Lona Robertson and department heads.

"We're excited to have Lisa officially appointed to this crucial position with our college," said Fields. "We've had directors leading each area in the past, and both were successful, but with Lisa as assistant dean of honors and international programs, we'll be able to make better decisions regarding management, oversight, creating new opportunities and serving our students in each area. I say 'officially' because Lisa has done a good job leading international programs for a couple years and both programs since last summer, and we're looking forward to seeing how we can improve each moving forward."

"I am excited to have been selected to lead the international and honors programs as assistant dean of the Bumpers College," said Wood. "Having served as the director of both programs, I see the transformative impact these programs can and do have on our students. One of my goals is to increase the accessibility of international education for our students through increased scholarship opportunities and focusing on cost effective experiences. Other initiatives include increasing international research opportunities for honors students, encouraging service learning programs, promoting internships and incorporating semester long program availability to all majors within the college."

As director of international programs, Wood has managed faculty-led programs, exchange programs, internships and external programs. She has managed the budget, coordinated the annual awarding of faculty-led grants and student scholarships, re-structured a service-learning program in Dangriga, Belize, for Bumpers College students, and serves on the International Education Advisory Committee and the Rome Center ad-hoc committee.

Since 2012, Wood has served as co-mentor or mentor for five honors students who have finished or will finish degree requirements by May, she is working with six others on their honors research projects, has served as chair of the college's honors committee, worked with the honors student board and proposed strategy to increase students in the honors program.

"The international and honors programs are vital to the overall student experience for our Bumpers students," said Wood. "I will work closely with the leadership team to ensure these programs continue to meet the needs of our students."

She was named winner of the U of A System Division of Agriculture/Bumpers College's John W. White Outstanding Teaching Award in 2019, was inducted into the U of A Teaching Academy in 2018, earned the Gamma Sigma Delta Outstanding Teacher award in 2017, named Outstanding Environmental Educator in Formal Education by the Arkansas Environmental Education Association in 2014, and received the Presidential Medal from the Delta Regional Authority for service to the community of Marvel-Elaine in 2013 and the Golden Tusk Award for representing the U of A in exemplary service to the broader community by working with underserved students in the Arkansas Delta in 2013.

Wood earned her bachelor's degree in agronomy (soil science) in 1984, her master's degree in agronomy (soil physics) in 1988 and her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction in 2013, all from the U of A.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 3 percent of colleges and universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.