Author, father, and inspiring professor are just some of the ways you can describe Dr. J. Luke Wood. Learn more about the current director and associate professor of Community College Leadership programs and incoming director of the Joint Doctoral Program in this month's 7 Things You Didn't Know About COE Faculty and Staff.
1.
He is an identical twin
Luke’s twin brother, Joshua lives in Sacramento, California. Joshua is the Executive Director of Region Business- He's kind of a big deal. During their undergraduate career at Sacramento State University Joshua and Luke served as President and Vice President of the student government one year!
2.
Luke is a top rated author
Along with Dr. Frank Harris, Luke authored the important guidebook Teaching Boys and Young Men of Color. The new book recently reached #1 in three different categories on Amazon Kindle in Multicultural Education, Philosophy and Social Aspects, and Education and Reference.
3.
He was in foster care.
Luke and his twin brother were born while their biological mother was in prison. After their birth, Luke and Joshua became immediate wards of the court and were placed into foster care. The boys were adopted by their original foster family and they grew up with up to 12 brothers and sisters in the small town of McCloud, CA.
4.
#statsrfun
Because Luke was so scared of doing anything remotely math(ish), the very last class he took in his undergrad career was statistics. He clearly did well in that course because now he teaches research stats here at SDSU. Luke always tries to make his class fun and regularly encourages students to tweet after class using the hashtag #StatsRFun!
5.
Luke puts family first.
Luke has three children ages eight months, five years, and seven years with his wife Dr. Idara Wood (the other Dr. Wood!). His wife and children are the joys of his life.
6.
Luke is an MMA super fan!
Luke is a HUGE, OBSESSIVE, RELENTLESS Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fan and has been for years. Luke tends to like fighters who are never the best, but leave it all in the ring. “I guess I identify with that,” Luke tells us.
7.
Luke inspires future doctors in education.
Dr. Luke Wood first joined the SDSU College of Education faculty in 2011. He currently serves as the Director of the Education Doctorate in Community College Leadership and is the incoming Director of the SDSU/CGU Joint Doctoral Program in Education.
How Luke is making a difference in the College of Education:
“I serve as the Director of the EdD concentration in Community College Leadership and am the incoming Director of the Joint PhD program in Education. My goal is to train leaders to be equity-oriented and institutional responsibility centered. I also serve as the Co-Director of the Minority Male Community College Collaborative (M2C3), a research and practice center that partners with community colleges to improve outcomes for underserved students of color, particularly men of color. I have the privilege of directing M2C3 with Frank Harris III who is my brother in every way. Outside of the college, I have the privilege of serving as the faculty advisor for the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.”