School of Business

Bio

Profile of Van R. Wood (Ph.D.) – January 2021

Van R. Wood (Ph.D.)
Professor of International Marketing
Philip Morris Endowed Chair in International Business
Director - VCU Center for International Business Advancement (www.ciba.vcu.edu)
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia 23284-4000
Tel: (804) 828-1746, Mobile, E-mail: vrwood@vcu.edu


Van Wood (Ph.D.) is a specialist in international business having spent over 30 years involved in global marketing and trade. Dr. Wood was educated at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (spending one year as an officer aboard a U.S. merchant vessel with port destinations of Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong), the University of Washington (B.A. - Marketing 1973, M.B.A. - International Business 1975), and the University of Oregon (Ph.D. - International Marketing 1982). His teaching, research and consulting focus on “globalization” and the selection and development of international markets. He has traveled and worked in over one-hundred countries.

His experience in the field of international business began with his work in Chile from 1975 through 1979, where his association with the firm CIDEME led to extensive international business with organizations headquartered in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Middle East, and Latin America.

Dr. Wood spent 12 years at Texas Tech University (1982 - 1994) where he developed international programs, conducted international research, and guided seminars on global business strategies. He has consulted and presented his work in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Russia and North and South America.

He accepted the Philip Morris Endowed Chair in International Business at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in 1994, where today he continues his international work. He has produced and moderated 24 Annual International Forums during this period each with a unique international business focus. He is the Director – VCU School of Business Center for International Business Advancement (CIBA – www.ciba.vcu.edu). He has consulted and presented his work in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Russia and North and South America.

Dr. Wood has been awarded grants to develop international programs from the Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation, the Fulbright Commission, World Bank, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Virginia Commonwealth University, Texas Tech University, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) and other institutions. He is a past President (and current Interim Co-President, 2021-2022), and a long-term member of the Richmond, Virginia International Business Council Board of Directors (www.VAIBC.org); the Virginia World Trade Conference Planning Committee; the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce - VCU International Business Certificate Program Committee; the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce Advisory Board. Dr. Wood was nominated by the Dean of the VCU School of Business for the VCU Service Excellence Award in 2020 and 2021. He is the recipient of Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Business “Award of Excellence - 2000” for outstanding research, teaching and service; the School’s “Award of Distinguished Teaching 2006,” for innovative and exceptional pedagogical achievement, and the School’s “Distinguished Service Award 2010, 2013 and 2018” for exemplary service both to the VCU and its outside communities. In 2009, he received the Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce’s “Outstanding Lifetime International Trade Educational Services to Small Business Award.” In 2014 Dr. Wood was awarded the Virginia International Business Council’s (VAIBC) “Global Excellence Award”, which is bestowed upon the "person who has materially contributed to the promotion of world trade in Virginia."

Dr. Wood’s research focuses on correlates of international business success. He has published over 140 articles in numerous scholarly and practitioner focused journals and conferences including the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of International Business Studies, International Marketing Review, Journal of Business Research, and the IIE Networker (Institute of International Education – Bi-annual Journal for International Education Professionals). His most recent work has focused on – Africa: The Big Emerging Continent.