He acquired a Bachelor's in Engineering Physics Summa Cum Laude with Honors followed by Civil Engineering Master's and Doctoral degrees from Texas Tech University. His teaching is driven by a love of how the world works, a love for students, and a firm belief in classical education as a model for lifelong learning. His technical research focuses on incorporating soil-structure interaction to improve the production-oriented load ratings of reinforced-concrete box culverts, as well as pullout resistance in inextensible mechanical stabilized earth retaining walls and database implementation for structural/geotechnical data. When not investing in cadets, vets and evening students, Dr. Wood, his wife and three children are actively engaged in their local church.