Dr. Erin Wood is a higher education leader with nearly two decades of experience advancing equity, access, and institutional accountability across academics, administration, governance, and civil rights compliance. Her work spans Titles VI and IX and ADA Section 504, and she is recognized for her comprehensive expertise in administrative investigation, policy development, and justice‑oriented institutional practice.

Wood has served in nearly every functional role within Title IX administration—including coordinator, deputy for athletics, investigator, advisor, hearing officer, and leader of prevention and education initiatives. Beginning in 2014 at Catawba College, she served as Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Athletics before becoming the institution’s Title IX Coordinator in 2016. In that role, she built the College’s first coordinated Title IX infrastructure, establishing a multidisciplinary team of deputies, investigators, and trainers, and securing the institution’s first civil‑rights‑specific budget line. She designed and delivered training for all campus constituencies—boards, faculty, staff, athletics, and student organizations—and strengthened safety and access through partnerships with community agencies.

Her commitment to impartial, trauma‑informed administrative investigation led her to serve as an external investigator for multiple universities, where she also provided equity‑centered training to human resources and administrative leaders. She has contributed to student conduct and civil rights processes as an administrative advisor and hearing officer at the University of New Mexico, and recently served as the Title IX Coordinator at a small, private, same-sex college.

Wood’s academic foundation includes a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Biology, and both a Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Physiological Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University. She earned tenure and the rank of associate professor at Catawba College before completing her Juris Doctor at North Carolina Central University School of Law.

Across her career, Dr. Wood has been guided by a clear purpose: to identify and dismantle disparities embedded in organizational systems and structures, and to build environments where all individuals can access the full promise of higher education. Her leadership reflects a steadfast commitment to equity, justice, and the creation of institutional processes that are transparent, fair, and deeply human‑centered.