Dr. Beverly Phyllis Wood MD

Beverly was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. She received an A.B. from Radcliffe College and earned a medical degree at the University of Rochester Medical School, New York, in 1965.

In 1963, she married Lawrence Wood, the love of her life, creating a 58-year partnership that would cross continents. After their marriage, she entered military service in the US Army and served as a Captain in the Army Medical Corps. She was the first woman with a commission that guaranteed her assignment of choice; she was assigned to Taegu, South Korea with Cpt. Lawrence Wood, MD. Beverly and Lawrence would travel through much of Asia during their military service.

After serving in the Army, she completed her residency in radiology followed by a fellowship in pediatric radiology. Dr. Wood later joined the faculty of the University of Rochester Medical School as an Assistant Professor, specializing in pediatric radiology. Beverly industriously supported the American and international community of radiologists through work in professional organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Roentgen Ray Society, and many other institutions in the United States.

In 1989, she took a new position as Radiologist-in-Chief at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. She published over seventy peer-reviewed articles, and many reviews in the medical literature. She pursued greater connections between the radiological community around the world; working as a visiting professor in Sydney, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Seoul, South Korea, and both Christchurch and Auckland, New Zealand.

Dr. Wood was a passionate advocate for the protection of children, and she took part in campaigns to educate caregivers and the public on ways to identify signs of child abuse and alert authorities. She served as an expert witness in many court cases to protect children from abuse.

In 2005, Beverly Wood earned a PhD in Education from the University of Southern California for work in the continuing education of medical professionals and new methods in the use of technology and distance learning in radiological medicine. She joined the faculty of the Department of Medical Education at USC’s Keck School of Medicine and continued to maintain a clinical practice at the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital.

She won gold medals for lifetime achievements in pediatric radiology from the Society for Pediatric Radiology in 1996, the Roentgen Ray Society in 2004, and the Association of University Radiologists in 2012. In 2018 she and Lawrence Wood retired to San Diego to enjoy nature and their grandchildren.

She is survived by her husband, her sister, four children, and seven grandchildren.