Dr. Douglas Wood, executive director of the Tennessee State Board of Education, will be the guest of the Benjamin Hooks Institute for Social Change at The University of Memphis on Monday, Feb. 12. A reception in Wood's honor will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. in the U of M Alumni Center at 635 Normal Street.

At the reception, Wood will present the State Board of Education's new reading initiative for Tennessee. Wood will be introduced by local civil rights activist and former executive director of the NAACP, Dr. Benjamin Hooks.

A native of South Carolina, Wood graduated from Wofford College and holds a master's degree from Middlebury College and master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard University. In 1993, Wood was asked to write the guidelines and serve as chief reviewer for the U.S. Department of Education's Technology Innovation Challenge Grants program. The following year he was honored as South Carolina's Technology Educator of the Year and helped craft that state's $21 million Integrated State Technology Plan.

The public is invited to the reception. To make reservations, or for more information, call 678-2789.

For more information about the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change, please visit http://benhooks.memphis.edu.

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