Wendy Wood is honoring her time at OWU by making a gift that will make a lasting impact on future students.

When Wendy Wood '76 thinks about Ohio Wesleyan, she, like so many other alumni, describes the feelings and college memories that have bound the OWU family together for the past 175 years. Growing up in Coshocton, Wendy recalls spending many fall weekends at Ohio Wesleyan homecoming festivities and football games — "since I was old enough to walk," she chuckles. Her parents, Richard C. and Betty (Culp) Wood, both '41, actually first met in Professor Ben Spencer's English class, and Wendy's aunt and uncle were Bishops as well.

But Wendy decided to take a more circuitous route before arriving on OWU's campus as a junior, first spending two years at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. Transferring to Ohio Wesleyan turned out to be a "win-win" situation for Wendy, and a special joy for her parents.

"Ohio Wesleyan has always been important to me," says Wendy, who majored in politics and government and minored in secondary education and comprehensive social studies. It has been a lifelong love affair. "Remembering Professor Bill Louthan and how he taught Constitutional Law like a law school course, or how Professor Uwe Woltemade made economics so easy to understand reinforces how teaching excellence has impacted me."

Life after OWU for Wendy included graduating from law school at Ohio Northern University. She maintained a general law practice in Port Clinton for 20 years, followed by positions of Acting Judge in Ottawa City Municipal Court and Magistrate Judge in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court, retiring in 2014.

Wendy realizes the importance of being part of a planned giving program such as OWU's Tower Society, to which she was introduced many years ago by friend, Laurie Macgregor Connor '77. Working with the University, Wood is creating an endowment which will help create more opportunities to connect students with prospective employers. "Also included will be a commemorative bench placed outside Slocum Hall, where I stood so often during my student years," recalls Wood, who encourages increased philanthropic awareness among OWU alumnae.

"As women earn more money, they need to think about where they give their money," Wendy says. "That said, it's really not an issue unique to women. People should think about how college costs have significantly risen over the years, and how we all can help our students."

For more information about the Tower Society and the many ways you can make an impact on our students, please contact Jenny Batchelder, JD at jajoerge@owu.edu or 740-368-3043.