Judy Garner, Ph.D., Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Ruth Wood, PhD, Professor of Cell and Neurobiology, as the new Associate Dean for Appointments and Promotions in the Office of Faculty Affairs effective August 1, 2014. 

In this position, Ruth will be taking a leadership role in mentoring and counseling junior faculty on promotion, and in shepherding, along with the Office of Faculty Affairs staff, the process of dossier preparation and evaluation.

Dr. Wood’s research investigates neural circuits for behavior, including social behavior, affective behavior and reinforcing behavior. In particular, she is interested in how gonadal steroid hormones act in the brain, both during development and in the adult, to effect sex differences and modify behavior.

Dr. Wood has a long history of mentoring junior faculty and in being involved in the evaluation process for promotion, as she has served on the Keck School Faculty Appointments, Promotions and Tenure Committee (FAPTC) and the University Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure (UCAPT). She is currently a professor in the department of Cell and Neurobiology. 

Dr. Wood received her BS in Animal Science from UC Davis and her PhD in Physiology from the University of Michigan. After a postdoctoral fellowship in Anatomy and Cell Biology in Michigan, she served in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Yale before her recruitment to USC in 1999. 

If faculty members are interested in consulting with Dr. Wood, please contact Robin Kaufman in the Office of Faculty Affairs to make an appointment (323-442-1619, rsk@usc.edu).