Walter Childs Wood

Biography Wood was born on August 4, 1864, while his family was temporarily living in Montreal. His parents were Andrew S. and Lois P. (Childs) Wood.

Wood went to school in Newbury and St. Johnsbury in Vermont. He completed his secondary education at Northampton High School and earned his bachelor's degree from Amherst College in 1886. He earned his doctorate of medicine at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1889, specializing in surgery. Wood interned at Bellevue Hospital. He subsequently served as a staff member at St. Mary's Hospital in Brooklyn for ten years, chief surgeon at Brooklyn Hospital for fifteen years, and professor of surgery at Long Island University for seven years.

Wood served nearly twenty years on the board of trustees of the University of Connecticut, from 1922 to 1942. In 1932, the university awarded him a certificate for "outstanding contributions to rural welfare in the state." Built in 1940 and located on Glenbrook Road in Storrs, UConn's Walter Childs Wood Hall was named in his honor. Originally serving as a men's residence hall, Wood Hall housed the history department and the office of institutional equity as of 2020.

Wood married Ellen Rich Davis (1864–1939) in Brooklyn on December 8, 1892. The couple had one child, Eleanor Woods Thomsen (1896–1978).

Wood died on November 23, 1953, at Brushwood Farms in New Canaan. He was 89 years old. He was interred at New Canaan's Lakeview Cemetery.