Dr. Antwon Woods

Dr. Antwon D. Woods serves as the Department Chairman and Associate Professor of Business Administration and Sport Management for Belhaven University, and has 10 years of corporate and higher education experiences at both public and private institutions. Woods earned his B.B.A. in Accounting from Jackson State University in 2011, and an M.S. in Sport Management from Middle Tennessee State University in 2013. In 2015, he earned a Ph.D. in Urban Higher Education from Jackson State University, where he was an Ayers Fellow in the Jake Ayers Institute for Urban Research. He additionally earned his M.B.A. in Management from Louisiana State University in 2018. To conclude his educational record, he completed the Executive Leadership Program from the Saïd Business School at Oxford University with a certificate in Executive Leadership.

In his decanal role, Woods oversees the departmental curriculum, support of faculty-and student-led initiatives for innovation in learning and teaching, and other academic priorities. He also is a co-author of Examining Student Retention an Engagement Strategies at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (IGI Global, 2018), an acclaimed study that investigates new innovations that HBCUs can enact to better prepare the following generation of students in leadership throughout the competitive educational industry. In addition to his book publication, Woods has published over 20 peer-reviewed scholarly articles in the areas of retention, student engagement, customer service, community outreach, and shared governance. To extend his research expertise, he served on the editorial review board for 6 different academic journals.

Woods has been inducted into the Sigma Beta Delta Business Honor Society as an Honorary Member, Sigma Iota Epsilon Management Fraternity, Sigma Alpha Pi Honor Society, Society for Collegiate Leadership & Achievement Honor Society, Oxford Guild Business Society, and the Golden Key International Honour Society. In 2018, the Mississippi Business Journal awarded Woods as one of the Top 50 under 40 Business Leaders in Mississippi. For his efforts, Woods was highlighted as one of the Capital City’s most influential young leaders in his generation. Woods has also been awarded as one of the Top 40 under Forty Young Business Professionals in the country, published in the New York's Network Journal.

In addition to his work at Belhaven, Woods serves as the co-chair and president of the Antwon and Constance Woods Family Foundation, a non-profit that supports the educational well-being of children across Mississippi. He is also a charter member of the Ambition Preparatory Charter School, where he served as vice chairman of the board of trustees, chair of the governance and policy committee, co-chair of the finance committee, and a current member of the board of trustees. Also, he is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.

Woods has been married for 4 years to Dr. Constance Barnes-Woods, an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Children's of Mississippi Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi. They are the proud parents of their 1-year-old daughter, Bella Elizabeth.