william woodDr. William C. Wood of the SVEE-funded Center for Economic Education at JMU has been chosen to receive the top research award given by the National Association of Economic Educators. Wood will receive the Henry H. Villard Research Award, which the award charter says was “established to encourage and recognize outstanding contributions in economic education research.” NAEE will confer the award on Wood in Phoenix, AZ October 6 at the organization’s annual meeting, jointly held with the Council for Economic Education.

Wood credited SVEE’s partnership with making the award possible. “SVEE’s support of economic education has made it possible for me to work with great economic education field workers like Martha Hopkins, Joan Harper and Lynne Stover. It has made all the difference — having their reactions and their experience to draw from.”

Wood’s publications in economic education span a period of more than 30 years, beginning with “The Educational Potential of News Coverage of Economics,” published in the field’s leading journal, The Journal of Economic Education, in 1985. Wood has since published scholarly work with 22 different coauthors, four of whom were JMU undergraduates in honors or independent study programs. His work includes the U.S. economic history textbook Economic Episodes in American History (with Mark C. Schug) and an antitrust study published by The MIT Press (with Kenneth G. Elzinga).