By Staff
Special to The Star
Jan. 24, 2002
Meridian psychiatrist William M. Wood has been elected to Fellowship in the American Psychiatric Association.
Wood, 77, will receive a medallion symbolizing his election at a convocation ceremony in Philadelphia, Penn., on May 20. This year, the American Psychiatric Association elected 137 fellows, four of whom are from Mississippi.
The selection process takes a full year, she said.
The guidelines for the fellowship state the nominee "must be an outstanding psychiatrist who has made and continues to make significant contributions. Excellence, not mere competence, is the hallmark of a fellow."
Candidates are first nominated by their district chapter in Wood's case, the Mississippi Psychiatric Association.
This is the second significant honor the Pittsboro, Miss., native has recently received. Wood was recognized with the first Distinguished Service Award from the Mississippi Psychiatric Association in 2000.
Wood played a major role in the founding of Weems Community Mental Health Center 32 years ago. The mental health center, with headquarters in Meridian, provides mental health care in nine East Central Mississippi counties that make up Region X of the state's mental health system.
Wood received his medical training at the University of Mississippi and the University of Tennessee. He practiced family medicine and general surgery in Carthage for 20 years before going into psychiatry.
He continues to practice at Weems and performs forensic and commitment evaluations for the Lauderdale County Circuit Court.
He is the immediate past president of the Mississippi Psychiatric Association and has been clinical director at East Mississippi State Hospital in Meridian, chief of psychiatry at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Biloxi and consulting psychiatrist at the Mississippi Penitentiary at Parchman.
He has served as a consultant to the Mississippi Medical Licensure Board for more than 20 years.
Wood served in the U.S. Navy from 1946-1951 and was later a member and president of the Flying Physicians Mississippi Chapter. He is married to the former Natalie Chadwick; they have two sons, William C. Wood, a Memphis cardiologist, and Robert C. Wood, an attorney in Hattiesburg.
Wood has two grandchildren. He attends Poplar Springs United Methodist Church.