Susannah Wood, associate professor in Rehabilitation and Counselor Education was awarded the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) Professional Leadership Award.

The Professional Leadership Award honors excellence in leadership including scholarship, program development, involvement in professional organizations, role modeling leadership, influence, communication and public relations within society concerning counselor education.

She has been influential in developing the strong culture at the University of Iowa and holding students to a high standard of counselor education and supervision. Dr. Susannah M. Wood has been an incredible role model to both my peers and me as I prepare to enter into the counselor education field. I will model my leadership after her style because she has been so influential in my own journey,” says Gina Martin, a doctoral student in Counselor Education and Supervision.

In addition to this achievement, Wood was also named a 2020 American Counseling Association fellow, and was awarded the Deanna Hawes Mentorship Award and the Presidential Award from the North Central Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (NCACES). She is also a former president of NCACES.

Woods also serves as the faculty advisor for the university’s chapter of Chi Sigma Iota Honor Society International, an international honor society for counselors, counselor educators, and counseling students promoting scholarship, leadership, and service.

Wood has worked at the UI College of Education since fall 2006. She teaches both doctoral students and students who are pursuing their master’s in school counseling with an emphasis in gifted education in partnership with the Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development.

Her research interests encompass preparing school counselors for their practice with a focus on serving the gifted population in collaboration with other educators and professionals.

“Dr. Wood is an incredible professor, researcher, and mentor. She has contributed so much to the field of counselor education, not only through her research, and professorship, but also in how she pours into and empowers her students to become effective clinicians, and counselor educators. She has greatly influenced the next generation of developing counselors and counselor educators,” says Martin.