By Claire Taylor, Staff Writer
William Jerome “Jay” Wood, who taught in Wheaton College’s philosophy department for 39 years until his retirement in 2021, died Aug. 9 at 71. Wheaton released a statement on Facebook on Aug. 13 calling Wood “a prolific scholar and collegial mentor to both students and new colleagues” who “inspired and challenged generations of philosophy students on topics such as cultivating a life of the mind and the intellectual virtues.”
Wood was born in Bethesda, Maryland, on March 15, 1954, and raised in Southern California until he graduated from Torrance High School. He attended Westmont College, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1976. Wood then received his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1986 from the University of Notre Dame and began teaching philosophy at Wheaton before finishing his dissertation.
During his 39 years at Wheaton, Wood formed relationships with professors within and outside of the philosophy department. During his time as department chair, he hired professor Sarah Borden, the first female philosophy professor at Wheaton, in 2001.
Borden emphasized Wood’s impressive memory. “Let’s say you had a class with him and you walked into his office 20 years later, he’d immediately know your name. He’d know where you sat, and he’d know what your grade was,” she said.
As the first woman in the department, Borden was nervous to begin. “ I felt like I needed to prove that I really had done something in grad school,” Borden said. “He was always very kind, and he intentionally worked on being generous.”
“Jay was an extremely hard worker. He was dedicated to his craft of philosophy,” said associate professor of philosophy Robert O’Connor, who worked beside Wood for 32 years.
“There is a Jewish notion, coming out of Israel, of the Sabra, which is a cactus,” he said, “That was Jay all the way: prickly on the outside, but the softest, kindest, forgiving, charitable heart ever.”
Wood was not only dedicated to philosophy but to his faith. His son, a Wheaton professor of philosophy Adam Wood, said his father’s faith had a profound impact on his family life. After Wood’s father forced him out of the house at 14 years old, Wood became a Christian as a teenager before attending Westmont. “ I think it’s a story of having been rescued by the grace of God and by the gospel,” said Adam Wood.
Wood and his wife, Janice, raised four children. Adam Wood has been a part of the Wheaton faculty since 2012. Continuing his father’s legacy, Adam Wood teaches in Wheaton’s philosophy department.
“My dad made it very clear that he loved his job and loved philosophy,” Adam said. While his dad did not force philosophy upon Adam Wood, seeing his dad’s fervor piqued his interest.
“His son has just an incredible mind, but is also a wonderful chair and great colleague. And that’s Jay’s legacy right there,” O’Connor said of Adam Wood.
Wheaton College President Philip Ryken served as Wood’s teaching assistant (TA) while attending Wheaton, a position offered to him after taking Wood’s Philosophy of Religion class his freshman year.
“The main thing I remember about being Dr. Wood’s TA is sitting in his office and talking/arguing about Notre Dame football, campus politics, evangelical identity, Calvinism, Anglicanism and other topics,” Ryken wrote. “I doubt either one of us ever conceded an argument, but Dr. Wood certainly strengthened my thinking.”
“I hope Jay Wood is remembered as a champion for the liberal arts, a friend to doubters, a generous scholar and a wonderful conversation partner, who rightly contested any form of careless thinking that fell short of the glory of God,” Ryken said.
After Jay Wood retired in 2021 following the onset of Alzheimer’s, Wheaton faculty remained in touch with him. O’Connor would visit and take walks with Wood as his health declined.
In May 2025, Jay Wood attended the philosophy department’s end-of-year retreat, hosted at Adam Wood’s home. “What a gracious thing on God’s heart to have brought that visit about,” Adam Wood said.
