Ruth Shoemaker Wood, PhD

Managing Director

Ruth Shoemaker Wood is a Managing Director at Storbeck Search, part of tDiversified Search Group. She brings scholarly training and hands-on experience to her understanding of the higher education landscape. Prior to entering the executive search sector, she served as Assistant Dean of Students at New York University’s College of Arts and Science. Before her role at NYU, she worked as a consultant to educational institutions experiencing organizational change and strategic planning challenges. Shoemaker Wood also served as a Career Counselor at the University of Pennsylvania, where she worked with undergraduates and alumni.

Her scholarly research centers around the college presidency and cultural change at small liberal arts institutions. Her book, Transforming Campus Culture: Frank Aydelotte’s Honors Experiment at Swarthmore College, was published in 2012 by the University of Delaware Press.

Shoemaker Wood has taught in the higher education graduate programs at NYU, Penn, CUNY, and Rider University; the courses she has developed include The College Presidency, Leadership in Higher Education, Research Methods, Campus Environments, History of American Colleges and Universities, Small Liberal Arts Colleges, and Student Affairs Administration, among others.

She has served on the boards of both Swarthmore College and the Humanity in Action fellowship program.