Woodrow Jones, Jr., professor of political science at Texas A&M University passed away on November 22, 2005, after a long battle with heart disease. Born in McKenzie, Tennessee, on February 28, 1947, he received his B.A. in political science from the University of New Mexico in 1969 and went on to earn an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Oregon in 1974 and an M.P.H. from the University of Texas School of Public Health in 1981.

Woody began his academic career at the San Diego State University in 1974 and moved to Texas A&M University in 1988. An expert in the politics of health policy, his work focused on questions of racial equity in the U.S. health care system. Woody and his long time coauthor, Mitchell Rice, were the authors of Blacks and American Government: Politics, Policy, and Social Change (with J. Owens Smith); Black American Health: An Annotated Bibliography; Health Care Issues in Black America; Public Policy and the Black Hospital; Health of Black Americans from Post Reconstruction to Integration, 1871–1960; and Contemporary Public Policy and Black America. He was also the coauthor (with Paul Strand) of Indochinese Refugees in America: Problems of Adaptation and Assimilation. He and Rice were among the first contemporary African-American political scientists to examine African-American health care from a politics/policy perspective. In his books and numerous articles and book chapters, Woody systematically documented the inequities in health care in America, providing systematic evidence of two health care systems, one for Blacks and another for Whites.

Woody's scholarly career was interrupted at Texas A&M when he moved into administration, serving as associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts (1988–1993), interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts (1993–1994), and dean of the College of Liberal Arts 1994–2001. He was the first African American to serve as dean at Texas A&M University. As dean he championed the arts and was instrumental in creating the Department of Performance Studies and added degree programs in music, telecommunications, and American studies as well as a new Ph.D. in speech communication. The College of Liberal Arts, he contended, was the “heart and soul” of the University. The college also created a Center for Humanities Research, now the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research. Woody also laid the ground work for the creation of a Phi Beta Kappa chapter at Texas A&M and was instrumental in the creation of the George H. W. Bush School of Government and Public Service. His leadership in administration went beyond Texas A&M when he co-founded the Texas Association of Deans of Liberal Arts and Sciences and served as its president in 1999–2000.

As dean at A&M Woody was a strong advocate for diversity in both the student body and among the faculty. When he stepped down as dean, he co-founded the Black Faculty Alliance and served as its first president. At the time of his death he was working to create an Africana Studies Research Center at Texas A&M.

Woody returned to teaching in the department of political science after his service as dean. His long battle with heart disease took a serious toll, and he eventually received a heart transplant. He returned to teaching after the transplant and was teaching undergraduate classes in health policy and urban politics at the time of his death. Although his closest friends advised him to slow down and take it easy, he restarted his research agenda, working on a new book on The Politics of Black Health Care, and proposing conference papers on race and policy issues at political science conventions.

Woody's life was characterized by passion and humor. He was passionate about issues, particularly the need for greater diversity at colleges and universities. Woody knew that race played a major role in his life, and he was sensitive to how it shaped the life chances of others. He also had a great sense of humor. His students will remember him as a down-to-earth professor who cared about them as individuals. He even brought his humor to the classroom. Outside the classroom with friends and colleagues, one could sit and have a drink (or maybe two) with Woody and spend the entire time laughing, not ever realizing that he was your dean. Woody will indeed be missed.

Woody is survived by his wife, Mary Wolf, two daughters, Kamilah and Halimah, a grandson, Torrence Woodrow “Little Woody” Brown, and his parents, Woodrow Sr. and Florence Jones.