Published on October 21, 2021 by Leighton Doores  
Patti Wood

Patti Wood, professor of teacher education in Orlean Beeson School of Education, has received the Award for Lifetime Achievement in Gifted Education from the Alabama Association for Gifted Children (AAGC).

Wood was selected for her significant contribution to gifted education in Alabama and was presented with the award at the 2021 AAGC Conference.

Maria Beard with the AAGC said Wood has “positively impacted countless gifted educators and gifted students across the state of Alabama throughout her 20 plus years of teaching experience. Dr. Wood is attuned with the needs of gifted students and passionately shares her expertise and her knowledge not only with her graduate students but with other educators across the state and nation.”

Wood has volunteered countless hours as a leader in AAGC and has partnered with multiple school districts to provide general and gifted education teachers with practical strategies for differentiation. She has also spoken to many parent groups about ways to support their gifted children.

Photo of Wood and friends

Wood is the immediate past president of AAGC and is involved in numerous school and university committees as well as state and national professional organizations.

“Dr. Wood is an excellent teacher who is constantly using innovative strategies with her students and assisting colleagues on ways to enhance their own teaching,” said Wood’s colleague Mandy Hilsmier, professor of teacher education at Samford University. “She has touched the lives of many students as their professor and, in turn, has affected the lives of tens of thousands of children in the gifted and general education classroom.”

Beard closed the presentation by summarizing Wood’s contribution to gifted education.

“Patti has leveraged her gifts to help others over many, many years and to us her title is professor, but it should probably be ambassador because she has consistently been a gift to the gifted world.”

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.