Woods was a staff member at AACC from 1979-81. She also served as a director for American College Testing Program and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.

In 1971, Woods began her career at Wayne State University in Detroit as director of the speech clinic. She has held administrative posts at Kalamazoo Valley Community College (MI), Long Beach Community College District (CA) and the Community College of Philadelphia.

Duvall said that despite the predominance of Woods' career in urban education, her broad knowledge of community colleges and higher education nationally, and her experience with national organizations in Washington, make her a prime candidate for promoting all the institutions at the national level.

"She certainly will be able to represent all community colleges," Duvall said. "With community colleges we need to be talking about commonalities, particularly when in national discussions. There are probably more commonalities than differences."

In the latter part of her career, Woods has frequently been involved in the training of community college presidents and has published her research on issues relating to diversity, teaching and learning.

Currently, Woods is chair of the executive board of the Black Caucus of the American Association of Higher Education and a member of the board of the National Council on Black American Affairs/Northeast. She is a member of the American Association of Women in Community Colleges and the Community College Advisory Committee of The College Board.

She earned a B.A. degree in speech pathology at Michigan State University and a M.Ed. in speech pathology at Wayne State University, where she has also completed doctoral coursework in that discipline.

The liaison post was created by Congress in 1992, but remained unfilled until Duvall's appointment in May 1994.

COPYRIGHT 1996 Cox, Matthews & Associates
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group