Dr. Anita Woods was born in Leamington Ontario, the oldest of four children to John and the late Anna Wall.  Anita always loved school, both the academic and social aspects.  In high school, she was involved in everything from sports teams (volleyball, badminton, basketball, baseball), music (band, choir and musical theatre) to chess club.  Anita knew early on that she wanted to study the biological sciences in University and that she would like to be in school for as long as possible, therefore a Ph.D seemed like a natural fit.  Anita received a B.Sc, honors Genetics (2002) and a Ph.D in Physiology (2006), both from the University of Western Ontario.

Dr. Woods studied the molecular mechanisms of cartilage differentiation in her Ph.D. work.  Although she really enjoyed basic science research and was quite successful as a student; publishing 8 first author papers, 13 in total as well as being awarded national scholarships, a studentship from the Canadian Arthritis Network and the Canadian Doctoral Award from CIHR, Anita knew her deepest passion was to teach and was interested in the scholarship of teaching and learning.  When the opportunity arose to teach part-time and then later full-time in the department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Dr. Woods career ventures shifted to teaching at the undergraduate level.  Anita feels very fortunate to have the opportunity to lecture to hundreds of undergraduate students.  She loves the challenge of teaching diverse topics, not necessarily from her area of expertise. 

Anita's teaching philosophy is that the classroom is a two-way street; both student and teacher should come to the classroom with high expectations of each other and put in their best efforts. Independent of the day, Dr. Woods tries to put in her best effort with every lecture.  Each class is a learning time for Dr. Woods as well, always striving to improve, to see what works and what doesn't, and then to adjust accordingly.  Dr. Woods also expects a lot from her students.  She tries to teach in a manner that engages the students in the lecture, but she also expects them to come to class ready to learn. Dr. Woods wants students to realize their full potential and expect a lot from themselves as well. 

The next year will be very busy as she and her husband celebrate the arrival of their first child, a baby boy, born Monday January 25th..  She also plans on further adding to her educational experience by obtaining a Masters in Education in the near future with a focus on higher education curriculum development. 

Favorite Food- Sushi, Calamari, Thai, and anything spicy or exciting

Best Vacation- Too many to chose from.  My husband and I have the travel bug.  A trip to Hawaii in 2005 for a conference, which was extended into a vacation, was amazing. We are planning on returning there for our 10th anniversary in 2013.  We have also been on a couple of cruises in the Caribbean, both of which were fantastic. We also hope to travel to Europe soon.

Life Goals (written at the age of 12)

Go to school forever- done
Teach- done
Marry my soul-mate- done
Become a mom- done
Write a textbook- yet to fulfill
Be on Jeopardy- yet to fulfill

Hobbies- Genealogy research, music/musical theatre, playing sports/fitness training, shopping/fashion

Favorite Show- Glee 

These are a few of my favorite things- My family, my church, my Mac, my running shoes, my morning coffee, music!

Idea of a relaxing day- Sleeping in, grabbing a coffee with John, walking around Costco, hitting the gym, taking a nap, hanging out with our friends, playing Wii, reading something that makes my head hurt, sitting on the deck with a cup of tea at the end of the day.

Pictures- (1) Anita and John at Kona Airport, (2) Anita with her siblings and dad at Christmas, (3) Anita on her Ph.D. defense day with her supervisor, Dr. Frank Beier and her external examiner, Dr. Rocky Tuan.

• Return to Main Page
• Read Previous Profiles