Fifty Years at BYU and Beyond: Honoring Dr. Steven Wood

Pictured above: Dr. Wood stands together with his students in class.

Dr. Steven Wood first began his teaching career at Brigham Young University in 2001, but his time at BYU began long before that. He graduated from our very own department with a BS in Chemistry in 1973. He also earned his MS from our department, working with Drs. Smith Broadbent and Richard Hawkins.

After earning his MS, Dr. Wood accepted a job at Dow Chemical in California. For the two years he worked there, Dr. Wood worked in research, helping produce artificial kidneys and researching organic synthesis.

While working with Dow Chemical, Dr. Wood was able to attend an American Chemical Society meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. There, he met with Dr. Roland K. Robins, who asked if Dr. Wood would return to BYU to receive his PhD. Though Dr. Wood felt comfortable in his job and working in California, he and his family moved back to Utah. Dr. Wood graduated with his PhD in 1983.

After receiving his PhD, Dr. Wood did his postdoctoral work in Switzerland, continuing to work with Robins on DNA and RNA reactional analysis. When he returned to Utah two years later, the economy had taken a turn for the worst. Dr. Gerald Bradshaw had enough money for Dr. Wood to work for him at BYU for six months. There was no guarantee afterwards whether or not Dr. Wood would be able to continue working. When those six months passed, funding ran out, and Dr. Wood worked with a research lab in Springville. Eventually, he ended up teaching a molecular biology lab class for Dr. Leo Vernon, returning once again to BYU.

It was in this shaky time that Dr. Wood found his love of teaching.

“I had never, ever considered teaching,” Dr. Wood shares. “It wasn’t even on the radar. I thought I was headed back to industry because that’s what I planned to do.”

Dr. Wood then spent the next ten years teaching a myriad of classes across BYU’s campus: research for the botany department, organic chemistry, even in food science for the nutrition department. He taught his very first class in 1986 and did not receive his tenure track position until 2001. Despite the uncertainty, Dr. Wood stayed at BYU.

“I just had a strong feeling that I should be here,” Dr. Wood continues. “I never viewed myself here. Neither of my parents went to college; I never realized I was a first-generation student until about five or six years ago. I felt like somebody knew what I should be doing and knew it better than I did. I talk to students and say I never expected to be doing what I'm doing. That [teaching] never even crossed my mind.”

Throughout his career, Dr. Wood has been beloved by his students, a constant source of inspiration for them as they journeyed through our department. Though he never saw himself as a teacher, Dr. Wood did find a part of his career that he especially loved.

“It's exciting to me when the students become their own,” Dr. Wood shares. “Along with that is this idea that they have an expanded view of—when you're in chemistry—it's really an expanded view of creation. Ultimately, we are teaching to reveal the Word [of God], and [the sciences] are given for the benefit of our Father's children. At the end, you have a deeper appreciation for matter and the physical creation and how it operates. When you study creation like that, you understand more about the Creator.”

Dr. Wood retired from teaching in our department in September 2025 but still remains around campus as an inspiration to all those to who look to his example. We as a department cannot thank him enough for his sacrifices to be with us, his love of chemistry and teaching, and for all those he inspired and continues to inspire.

Written by: Sydney Gant

Photo provided by: Dr. Steven Wood