Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow
When Dr. Randy Gibb arrived at Grand Canyon University in 2014 as the new dean of the Colangelo College of Business and didn’t yet know the ins and outs of operating a university, former Provost Dr. Hank Radda urged Gibb to do one thing.
“I think every one of my questions was answered with, ‘Talk to Wooden.’ And that’s what I did, I talked to Wooden to learn the operations of this place,” said Gibb about his introduction to Dr. Mark Wooden.
Gibb, now the university's provost, was one of many speakers who shared stories about Wooden during a retirement breakfast Wednesday morning at Havoc House. Wooden, dean of the College of Natural Sciences, will retire from GCU after 22 years and will hand the reins of the college to newly named dean Dr. Jon Valla, who has served as the college’s assistant dean since 2015 and associate dean since 2021.
“To be honest, early on, he was one of the only deans that understood how to operate colleges,” said Vice Provost Dr. Jennifer Lech about Wooden, known not just for his expertise in university operations but as an accomplished problem solver.
One of Gibb’s talks with Wooden involved the thing he might be most known for around the university outside of those operational skills.
“I remembered, I walked into the (business college) building and found the cadavers in the business building that he hadn’t mentioned to me prior to that point,” Gibb said. “And I called Hank, and he just laughed and hung up on me.”
A couple of things, Gibb wanted to convey about Wooden, who began his career at GCU in 2004 and saw a failing university full of dirt parking lots and one-story buildings: “He’s a man of faith, he’s an operator, and he’s all about the cadavers.”
What stands out to President Brian Mueller is that Wooden is, first, a science guy. But he’s also a man of faith whose convictions have greatly influenced his faculty.
“It was hard to get somebody at that time who was a science person to the core and also a Christ-follower. That’s hard to do, and so when you think about how God intervened in this place in a thousand different ways,” Mueller said, “that’s one.
“He absolutely never wavered in (his faith). There was never any question about that. He was public about that. He was sure about that. He was confident about that.
“And I think that’s what builds that confidence in his faculty,” Mueller said. “You talk to students who are in that area, you talk to parents who are in that area, they’re grateful for the confidence and assuredness.”
The university president added that what strengthens GCU as a Christ-centered university is that it has the savvy and ability to hire faculty “that are committed to what we’re doing here … and we had that right away with Mark’s leadership.”
Mueller also spoke about the second thing he has come to know about Wooden: “He’s had a great career as a professional, as a teacher, as an administrator and as a science person, but he was always about the students and teaching people about science. You would see him light up when he was talking about that.”
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More tributes from faculty:
From Valla: “I am incredibly grateful for Dr. Wooden. He played an integral role in the great transformation that GCU has undergone, and in doing so, he carried a tremendous load for many, many years with unquestionable dedication to GCU and especially to its students.
“Dr. Wooden has been a model and a mentor to me since I began, and as his successor, I can only hope to have a fraction of the impact he has had, and if I do, it will be because of the foundation he has laid.”
From Dr. Sherman Elliott, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences: “He was an incredible mentor … always loving, always supportive, high energy,” said Elliott, who was Wooden’s assistant dean when the science college was paired with the liberal arts and called the College of Arts and Sciences.
Elliott shared a story that captures Wooden’s sense of humor.
“I walked into his office and he said to me, ‘Do you want a Kiss?'”
“I don’t think so,” Elliott said.
“I think you do,” Wooden insisted.
“And he throws me a Hershey’s Kiss. Does that sound like him?”
From Lech: She shared stories of Wooden, who dressed as a German Santa for a Christmas event and as a duck for the university’s onetime fall celebration.
“Mark was never afraid to wear a costume for whatever the university needed.”
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Wooden at Wednesday’s breakfast also took a few minutes to address administrators, faculty and staff at the event.
He said he remembers visiting the university and not seeing what he does now: a beautiful campus of four- and five-story modern buildings spread across more than 300 acres. Not much was modern about the university back then.
“But I spent a day here and felt God’s presence,” he said.
After a late entry to academia – he was a contractor before earning his degrees in his 40s – the third-generation Arizonan knew he had found his home.
He was an assistant professor for one year before becoming an assistant dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and then, two years later, a dean in the College of Health Sciences.
He also served as dean of the colleges of Arts and Sciences (2009-2014); Science, Engineering and Technology (2014-2023); and since 2023, the College of Natural Sciences.
Wooden, who has had health issues over the past few years, said he’s not retiring because he doesn’t enjoy what he does. But he feels God telling him that it’s time to take care of himself and his health.
“I know Dr. Valla’s got it,” he said to the next dean, with a smile. “So if they offer you a costume, wear it, buddy.
“I love you all.”
Manager of Internal Communications Lana Sweeten-Shults can be reached at [email protected].
