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Wood's own experiences as first-generation transfer student at UC Davis guide him in his role as Student Affairs vice chancellor

A sewage plant, oil refinery and an unkempt cemetery are a few of the gritty sights that Fred Wood, vice chancellor of Student Affairs, remembers about the lower-income neighborhood in which he grew up. He knew of only one person in the greater neighborhood who had a college degree.

Says Wood, "My parents didn't attend college—my father graduated from high school, my mother dropped out her sophomore year—but I never felt disadvantaged because my parents understood the value of a university education, that it led to a better life."

Wood recalls that his family couldn't afford many books, and a friend had given them a set of encyclopedias that was missing a volume. "I had to keep that in mind when choosing a topic for a paper," says Wood with a smile.

Wood's mother highly respected college graduates and saw a degree as certification to do good things for other people. "My mother instilled in me a strong sense that it was important to be of service to others," Wood says. "Her hero was Albert Schweitzer, who founded a hospital at Lambaréné in French Equatorial Africa and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953." Wood's father exhorted his children to "Use your brain, not your back."

Having secured some financial aid, and with his parents' assurance that they could help pay for college, Wood applied to UC Davis during his senior year of high school and was accepted. However, his father had a severe heart attack, and it wasn't clear if he would survive. Consequently, Wood decided to stay close to home and attend Diablo Valley College. "My father did survive," adds Wood, "and he's still alive."

Attending a community college turned out to be helpful to Wood. "I understood little about how a university works," he says. "For instance I didn't really know what a major and degree requirements were. I got my 'academic legs,' so to speak." When he was ready to transfer, Wood applied to UC Davis as a chemistry major and was again accepted.

Of his transition from community college to UC Davis, Wood says, "If you could make a mistake, I probably made it. So I empathize with students who face some of the same challenges."

As an undergraduate, Wood considered becoming a high school teacher, but his goal changed after an adviser suggested working on a research project with a faculty member. "This experience," says Wood, "opened up the possibility of an academic career."

After earning his bachelor's degree, Wood, with "great support" from the chemistry faculty, went on to receive his Ph.D. in chemistry at UC Davis. He describes it as a "fantastic experience of being immersed in the life of the mind." He says that as a graduate student he developed a strong belief in the mission of a research university.

Once he finished his Ph.D., Wood taught for a few years at a small community college in northern Idaho, but UC Davis faculty asked him to return to the campus to a position focused on teaching assistant training, developing new lecture materials, and designing laboratory exercises. After a time, Wood became involved in student advising and was immediately drawn to the personal experience.

"I discovered that many times an adviser can be the face of the university," Wood says. "Advising within the Student Affairs constellation—summer orientation, residence hall advising—gave me insight into students' lives outside of the classroom. Previously when a student came to me for advising, I would talk about the major requirements for chemistry and general education, but when you advise in the residence halls, your conversations include the challenges students are facing, which are often significant, especially if they're coming from disadvantaged backgrounds."

Wood then served as associate dean in the College of Letters and Science, a position he says led to being engaged in many Student Affairs programs: housing, summer orientation, admissions, recruitment, the Learning Skills Center, Student Judicial Affairs, Student Disability Center and athletics. "My experience as an associate dean moved me towards a holistic approach to advising," Wood says. "Instead of focusing on how to improve a student's grades, I looked at how the array of campus resources could help a student feel at home, ultimately leading to academic success."

Of the challenges facing Student Affairs, including ensuring diversity and providing adequate mental health services, Wood says, "I feel we're all in the same boat, rowing in unison."