Park selects new Chief of Interpretation, Education & Operation

Ranger Kerry Wood speaks with kids about William Howard Taft at a recent off-site event

NPS / T. Engberg

News Release Date: February 25, 2016

Contact: Brenda Waters, 513-684-3262

Kerry Wood Selected as New Chief of Interpretation, Education and Operations of William Howard Taft NHS  

Kerry Wood, a 22-year veteran of the National Park Service (NPS), has been selected as the new Chief oflnterpretation, Education, and Operations at William Howard Taft NationalHistoric Site. Since April 2015, Wood has served as the acting Chief of Interpretation, Education, and Operations at the park.Wood started this new assignment permanently on February 21, 2016.

"We are extremely pleased to announce the promotion of Ranger K. Wood as the Chief of Interpretation, Education and Operations," said Superintendent Brenda M. Waters. "He is a skilled and talented leader with an extensive background in interpretation and education. His 16 years of experience here at William Howard Taft National Historic Site have prepared him to take on this challenging and rewarding new position."

Wood began his NPS career as a student aid at Mammoth Cave National Park in 1993 when he was a senior in high school. He was accepted in the Student Temporary Employment Program and later in the Student Career Employment Program while attending college at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY. Wood earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Education and Health Education in 1999 and had moved up the ranks to become a park ranger and a knowledgeable Cave Guide, often leading underground cave tours and interpreting history, geology, and hydrology.

In 1999 Wood transferred to William Howard Taft National Historic Site in Cincinnati, OH where he worked as an Interpretive Ranger as part of the NPS Intake Program. He became the park's Training Specialist in 2002 and was responsible for presenting education programs onsite and offsite working with elementary, high school, and college age students championing the national park service mission throughout the tristate area of Northern KY, Southeast Indiana, and Southern Ohio. He also graduated from the NPS G.O.A.L. Academy (Generating Organizational and Advancement Leadership) in 2014 and frequently served as the acting Chief of Interpretation over the past 10 years. 

Ranger Wood is a man of few words and much action but he said, "I am honored to have been chosen for this prestigious and integral position at William Howard Taft National Historic Site."