Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

This detailed article presents the career accomplishments and current endeavors of Ruth Dial Woods, 65, who began work in October 2001 and will continue for the forseeable future as the administrator for the Lumbee Tribal Council. The Tribal Council has a 15-member staff. In her position, “Woods's job is to identify and seek improvement programs and grants for the tribe and to develop ideas to strengthen the tribe” (para. 9).

Woods, who finished her second doctorate in Fall 2001, has worked as a teacher, administrator, and college professor. She is currently an appointed member of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. She is conducting additional research for a book, “Growing Up Red: The Lumbee Experience,” based on her recent dissertation (item WOOD005).

The article also touches briefly on her parents (educators H. E. and Ruby Dial), undergraduate study at Meredith College, work in Detroit and Maryland, teaching at Fairgrove School, work for Lumbee Regional Development Association, marriage to Noah Woods in 1973, teaching at Fayetteville State University, and help in establishing the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs.