Robert S. Wood

Robert S. Wood is a former General Authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in the Second Quorum of the Seventy from 1999 to 2009. At the time of his release he was called as president of the Boston Massachusetts Temple and served in that capacity until 2012. He served as a missionary in the French Mission from 1957 to 1959, and has served as bishop, stake president, regional representative, and area seventy.

Wood received his bachelor’s degree in history from Stanford University and his master’s and PhD in political science from Harvard University. He held the Chester W. Nimitz Chair of National Security at the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, where he also served as Dean of the Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Group, and Dean of the Center for Naval Warfare Studies, a major research group in the national security field. He is an expert in international affairs and has held faculty positions at Harvard University, Bentley College, the University of Virginia, the University of Tilburg, and the University of Groningen. He was also a visiting professor and lecturer at numerous universities and institutions. He frequently lectured at the National Defense University, the NATO Defense College, the Federal Executive Institute, and all of the US Military Senior Service Schools.

He is the author of The Complete Christian (2007, Deseret Book) as well as editor and contributor to several volumes, including Strategic Transformation and Naval Power in the 21st Century (with Pelham G. Boyer, 1998, Naval War College Press).

He was born on December 25, 1936, in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He was selected as a delegate from Idaho to the international YMCA Centennial Conference. He and his wife, Dixie, are the parents of four daughters.