Aquinas Medal

UD Announces Distinguished Honor to Longtime Professor

UD is proud to announce that Professor of Philosophy Robert (Bob) Wood, Ph.D., was named the 2018 Aquinas Medalist on behalf of the American Catholic Philosophical Association (ACPA). On Saturday, Nov. 10, in San Diego, the ACPA awarded its highest honor, the Aquinas Medal, to Wood in view of his exemplary philosophical work in and out of the classroom.

In receiving this honor, Wood joins a list of distinguished Catholic philosophers including Jacques Maritain, Etienne Gilson, Karol Wojtyla, G.E.M. Anscombe, Alasdair MacIntyre and Robert Spaemann.

Though health issues prevented Wood from attending the formal award ceremony, his son Greg was on hand to receive the medal on his father's behalf, and Wood’s good friend Patrick Byrne of Boston College read his address.

Wood has taught at UD for nearly four decades. He received his doctorate in philosophy from Marquette University, with his 1967 dissertation titled “Martin Buber's Ontology: An Analysis of I and Thou”; his M.A. in philosophy  from Marquette University, with his 1963 thesis titled “Intuition in Bergson”; and his B.A. in history and philosophy also from Marquette University in 1958. His focuses include aesthetics, anthropology, history of philosophy, metaphysics, Hegel, Heidegger and Plato. He continues to write papers and articles published throughout the world.  

"Bob Wood is a wonder. In his teaching and in his writing, he leads us into the heart of reality, calling attention to the correspondence of that reality with our own deepest depths,” said Associate Professor of Philosophy Chad Engelland, Ph.D. “His thought is complex because it is true, challenging because it is good, and inspiring because it is beautiful. The Aquinas Medal is an honor he richly deserves."