William Ransom Wood (February 3, 1907 – February 25, 2001) was an American politician and leader of the

University of Alaska The University of Alaska System is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was created in 1917 and comprises three separately accredited universities on 19 campuses. The system serves nearly 30,000 full- and part-time stud ...

. Wood was born near Jacksonville,

Morgan County, Illinois Morgan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 35,547. Its county seat is Jacksonville. Morgan County is part of the Jacksonville, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area, which ...

. He was an

Episcopalian Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...

. He served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He became vice president of the

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant ...

University of Alaska

Dr. Wood assumed the presidency of the University of Alaska in 1960, serving in this capacity at the university for the next 13 years. During his presidency, the Fairbanks campus gained a new residence hall complex, gymnasium, classroom buildings, a heating and power plant, a library-fine arts complex, and a campus activity center. In 1964 an area was selected on the campus' West Ridge for further expansion, primarily of research facilities. The first of these was the Alaska Water Laboratory, built and operated by the

U.S. Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant ...

. A building for biological research and a new facility for the burgeoning

Geophysical Institute The Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks conducts research into space physics and aeronomy; atmospheric sciences; snow, ice, and permafrost; seismology; volcanology; and tectonics and sedimentation. It was founded in 1946 by ...

went up on the ridge. Wood served on national and international education boards and committees and was very active in the Alaska community. His wife, Dorothy Jane, is widely acknowledged as an important element in his success. During his tenure as president and afterward, he wrote books of poetry which were published by the University of Alaska Foundation.

Project Chariot

Dr. Wood strongly supported

Project Chariot Project Chariot was a 1958 US Atomic Energy Commission proposal to construct an artificial harbor at Cape Thompson on the North Slope of the U.S. state of Alaska by burying and detonating a string of nuclear devices. History The project or ...

, which was a proposal by

Edward Teller Edward Teller ( hu, Teller Ede; January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb" (see the Teller–Ulam design), although he did not care fo ...

to use nuclear bombs to create a harbor at

Cape Thompson Cape Thompson is a headland on the Chukchi Sea coast of Alaska. It is located 26 miles (42 km) to the southeast of Point Hope, Arctic Slope. It is part of the Chukchi Sea unit of Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Early Inuit ...

. Two University of Alaska scientists who publicly opposed this project, William Pruitt and Leslie Viereck, were forced out of their jobs by Wood's administration.

Wood Center

The William Ransom Wood Center was dedicated on Sept. 29, 1972. Originally, it was decided that the new center would be totally paid for by university students. The Associated Students of the University of Alaska successfully lobbied the state legislature to provide a special, $4 million low-interest construction loan, which would be paid back from student fees over 25 years. However, in 1980, state Rep. Brian Rogers succeeded in passing a legislative appropriation to take over the remainder of the debt payments for the center. The name of the building was changed before construction was complete to honor Dr. Wood, which caused some controversy among the student body of the time. The building was designed by a former UA student as a solution to

cabin fever Cabin fever is the distressing claustrophobic irritability or restlessness experienced when a person, or group, is stuck at an isolated location or in confined quarters for an extended time. A person may be referred to as stir-crazy, derived from ...

. The center features a ballroom and adjoining conference rooms, an eight-lane

bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a Meetinghouse, clubhous ...

, six pool tables, a

darkroom A darkroom is used to process photographic film, to make prints and to carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of the light-sensitive photographic materials, including film and ph ...

, a multilevel lounge, a pub, coffee and espresso café, a pizza place, a large grill and food court, and an inspirational “staircase to nowhere." Wood Center is also home to Student Activities and Outdoor Adventures, Associated Students of UAF, the student senate, and UAF’s student newspaper, the '' Sun Star''. The “stairs to nowhere” in the center of the building (also called the Bird’s Nest) are there because the Wood Center was originally designed to have three floors, and when construction plans changed due to unforeseen

permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...

problems, the stairs had already been built.

Public life

After his retirement from UA in 1973, he served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Fairbanks from 1978-1980. He helped lead the creation of Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and continued in his strong commitment to the beautification of Fairbanks through the Festival Fairbanks Foundation. His efforts included the Golden Heart Plaza and the Cushman Street Bridge of Flags, among many others. Wood remained active on the University of Alaska Foundation Board of Trustees. He was also president emeritus. Wood and his wife were both given honorary doctorates by the University of Alaska Board of Regents in 1990. *City of Fairbanks mayoral runoff election, October 24, 1978 **William R. Wood - 1,940 (55.9%) **Chuck Rees - 1,533 (44.1%)

References

Post War Expansion – President Wood
University of Alaska Stories * ''The Firecracker Boys'', by

Dan O'Neill Dan O'Neill (born April 21, 1942) is an American underground cartoonist, creator of the syndicated comic strip ''Odd Bodkins'' and founder of the underground comics collective the Air Pirates. Education O'Neill attended the University of Sa ...

. 1994, New York: St. Martin's Griffin. 2007, Basic Books.
"Alaska's Trailblazers for Academic Freedom"
* City of Fairbanks Elections 1903 – 1994, compiled by Bernard A. Smith. 1994, Office of the Fairbanks City Clerk.

External links

* via

Alaska Film Archives The Alaska Film Archives, located at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, holds the largest collection of film related material about Alaska. The archive was established in 1968, and consists almost entirely of 16mm film dating from the years 1920 ...

– Wood, as UA president, makes introductory comments during the inaugural broadcast of

KUAC-TV KUAC-TV, virtual and VHF digital channel 9, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. Owned by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, it is sister to National Public Radio (NPR) m ...

, December 22, 1971 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, William Ransom 1907 births 2001 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Alaska United States Navy personnel of World War II Mayors of Fairbanks, Alaska People from Jacksonville, Illinois Leaders of the University of Alaska Fairbanks University of Alaska alumni University of Nevada, Reno people 20th-century American politicians Military personnel from Fairbanks, Alaska 20th-century American Episcopalians 20th-century American academics