Van Wood, Ph.D. to retire in January 2025 following a career of international impact
by Sarah Murphy
When you find yourself at a fork in the road—take it.
This is advice that Van Wood, Ph.D. has lived by his entire life.
It’s a famous “Yogi-ism” once spoken casually by New York Yankees legend Yogi Berra, and it has since been adopted as a profound musing about decision making. At first glance, coming to a fork in the road appears to be a question of which choice to make. Do I take the right? Move to the left?
Yet what Berra is saying—and what Wood has used as a guide in his own life—is that the only choice when faced with a fork in the road IS to choose. It is a given that you will have to make a decision; don’t let that weigh on you. Instead, continue moving forward.
“Life is not scripted,” says Wood, the Philip Morris Endowed Chair of International Business at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business. “It just comes at you, happens to you. One day, when you look back and reflect, it’s all going to make sense, and life will come full circle. You will finally have some understanding of what this life is.”
Throughout his career, Wood has consistently embraced change and seized opportunities for bold new life decisions. Now, faced with another significant milestone—retirement—Wood is once again ready to take the leap. After a distinguished career spanning over 42 years as a university professor—30 years at VCU and 12 years at Texas Tech University—Wood will retire on Jan. 1, 2025.
From Merchant Marines to Marketing
“If someone had told me 50 years ago that I would become a university professor, I would have said, yeah sure, whatever,” said Wood, reflecting on the path that brought him to where he is today in his career. As a high school graduate from Spokane, Washington, Wood set his sights on one thing: seeing and experiencing the world. He initially chose to do so through the military, which led him to his first big fork in the road: attending either the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy or the U.S. Naval Academy—an option given him, thanks to an offer from his Washington State senator.
Wood chose the Merchant Marine Academy, spending one year as an officer aboard a U.S. merchant vessel with port destinations in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. Though he briefly lived abroad in Italy as a child, this was Wood’s first experience overseas in his capacity as a Merchant Marine, and he realized something quickly: international business is so much more than just shipping, crew management and cargo handling. It was a discovery that inspired him to go back to school, this time for his Master of Business (MBA) in International Business at the University of Washington.
After graduating with his MBA in 1975, Wood was presented with a variety of promising corporate opportunities across the U.S. Yet, to the surprise of his family, he chose a less-traveled path: a position with a small company based in Santiago, Chile. He told himself that he would only stay there for six months. He remained in South America for almost four years.
“We had explosive growth,” says Wood. “Chile was embracing globalization, and we went from four people to almost five hundred, counting all the people employed in some capacity by my firm. I had some really unique opportunities to understand how international business works, how to piece together opportunities and agreements. And then, while in Chile, a few universities came knocking, asking if I could teach international business to their students.”
Wood unexpectedly found himself teaching classes at two universities in Chile, where two things happened: his proficiency in Spanish skyrocketed thanks to lecturing, and he grew more interested in being immersed in education, research and the flow of new ideas.
Thus came another fork.
Realizing if he didn’t return to the U.S. soon, he might never return—“South America is a marvelous place,” says Wood—he strapped on a backpack, traveled for six months and eventually arrived back on the West Coast of the U.S. He decided to follow his interests and pursue a full-time career in academics, enrolling in the University of Oregon for his Ph.D. in International Marketing.
“Obtaining my Ph.D. was challenging,” says Wood. “It’s not like an MBA or Master’s degree. With a Ph.D., you must develop original ideas that can be investigated and hopefully lead to advancing knowledge in your field.”
Wood dug into the field of cognitive science as it pertains to international business. To this day, he is known for his work in identifying how significant experience in the field of international business can lead to distinct cognitive structures among business people seeking success in global markets. It’s what got him noticed for his first faculty position at Texas Tech University, and later for his role at VCU.
International Impact at VCU
In 1994, Wood interviewed for the role of Philip Morris Endowed Chair of International Business with then VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D.
During their discussion, Trani outlined his strategic vision for the university’s growth and transformation, including expansion into the international education area, asking Wood what he thought of these goals.
“I told him, I wanted to be part of this effort,” says Wood. “I told him, I’m in.”
During his 30-year tenure at VCU, Wood witnessed and contributed to the university’s remarkable transformation from a local commuter school to a globally recognized research institution. He taught both undergraduate and graduate courses, focusing on four fields of knowledge: globalization; international market analysis and selection; international strategic alliance formation; and global marketing strategy.
“Dr. Wood has been the ultimate champion of thinking and acting globally, infusing our teaching, research and service missions with a distinctly international perspective,” says Mayoor Mohan, Ph.D., interim associate dean for Strategic Affairs and professor of Marketing at the VCU School of Business. “His dedication has fundamentally shaped the School of Business’s global focus, ensuring our students and faculty approach their work with an awareness of the interconnected world.”
Wood founded and served as director of the VCU School of Business Center for International Business Advancement (CIBA). He considers his most fulfilling accomplishment as CIBA’s director to be producing and moderating 26 annual International Business Forums (one of VCU’s premium boundary spanning events). Forum topics have explored global investments, characteristics of global business leaders, global business’s role in sustainability and social responsibility and social media and artificial intelligence in our globalized societies.
Wood has published over 140 articles in numerous scholarly and practitioner-focused journals and conferences, including the Journal of Marketing, Journal of International Business Studies, International Marketing Review and Journal of Business Research.
“Van Wood is a wonderful colleague who will be sorely missed,” says Mohan. “His dedication to championing all things international has left an indelible mark on our school. His relentless commitment to keeping us outward-focused in our mission will be part of his lasting legacy here at VCU.”
Wood has also traveled extensively, mostly for work but also for pleasure and personal growth. To this day, he has visited over 110 countries. Yet as he nears retirement, Wood’s most cherished memories from his career as a professor are those of his students and the education he has helped foster.
“I’ve come to believe that one of the most, if not the most important aspects of human endeavor is education,” says Wood. “No one is born with education; it has to be repeated and enhanced with every generation. At the end of the day, the thing that mattered most to me has been my students and the impact I was able to have on their lives. That has been my greatest professional accomplishment, seeing the growth and success of my students.”
“It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Dr. Wood is universally loved by his students,” says Mohan. “His ability to bring global perspectives into the classroom was unmatched. His passion made complex topics feel accessible and exciting, cultivating a generation of business leaders with a broad, outward-looking vision.”
One of Wood’s students, Todd Haymore (M.S. ‘04), says Wood is an engaging and passionate teacher who taught using current research and real-world experiences. He gives Wood partial credit for helping him with his business plans when he served as Virginia’s Secretary of Agriculture & Forestry under Governors Bob McDonnell and Terry McAuliffe.
“Dr. Wood’s discussions in class about how every export from Virginia helped to generate more revenue, job creation and business growth at the manufacturing or processing facility somewhere in Virginia assisted me with understanding better the value my company was providing to Virginia and North Carolina,” says Haymore, who today is managing director at Hunton Andrews Kurth. “In other words, Dr. Wood was simply teaching that increased exports into the international marketplace equals more economic development here at home. That fundamental truth became the foundation of our successful plans to build a Virginia agricultural export promotion network around the world and to create the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund, a unique economic development incentive.”
One of Haymore’s favorite memories of Dr. Wood is from an Executive MBA class international trip to Prague, Czech Republic in 2003—a trip that Wood has led for the VCU EMBA program for 30 years. Due to a booking error, their hotel didn’t have enough rooms for the entire class, so Haymore, Wood and four other students volunteered to find different last-minute lodging.
“My magnanimous offer was ultimately awarded with a suite at the Intercontinental Hotel, something I didn’t expect at all,” says Haymore. “We proceeded to make the most of our ‘low-end’ and ‘difficult’ accommodations over the week we spent in the Czech Republic. In truth, we had an absolute blast and it helped to build a relationship with him outside of the classroom that’s continued to this day.”
The Next Fork in the Road
Wood has a vanity license plate on his car that reads, THE NEXT. “It isn’t a question,” he says. “It’s an answer.”
“For instance, my wife loves concerts,” says Wood. “She has taken me to innumerable rock and roll concerts, and if you were to ask her which is her favorite, she would reply, ‘the next one.’ When someone asks me about my favorite project, journey or trip? I answer, ‘the next one.’ It’s the excitement surrounding what is to come. It’s a way to lead your life, guided by the past, living in the present, focused on the future.”
So, what’s next for Wood?
In addition to being awarded the status of VCU Professor Emeritus and Distinguished Professor, Wood will continue to serve on the board of several organizations, including the African Business and Entrepreneur Research Society (ABERS), which will host its upcoming 2025 conference in the Ivory Coast of West Africa. But he is also looking forward to time with family and personal travel opportunities ahead; he and his wife are avid skiers, golfers and scuba divers.
No matter where retirement takes Wood, one thing is certain: there are more forks in the road ahead and new adventures waiting to unfurl.
“I, like everyone, have had my doubts, misgivings and challenges in life and in my career,” says Wood. “But looking back now, I would tell my younger self and others who might be questioning their path: Stay the course. You’ll be fine.”
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