Woodrow W. (Woody) Baldwin

Dr. Woodrow W. (Woody) Baldwin, 96, professor emeritus of business management, died April 21, 2016. Raised in Amarillo, he got his bachelor's degree at University of Oklahoma and his master and doctorate degrees from UCLA. After his honorable discharge from World War II military service, Woody began his teaching career in 1946 at UCLA and taught there until 1956. He was twice chosen as UCLA's most popular professor.

In 1956 he accepted a position as professor of management and director of the School of Business at Simmons College in Boston. He served as head of the School for 20 of his 26 years of service there. Dr. Baldwin was a frequent speaker and contributed to business journals and authored three textbooks.

Woody was a born leader. He was always active in professional and social organizations. He served as national president of the American Collegiate Retailing and the California Business Education Association. He was on the Board of Directors of the American Management Society; he was president of the Boston Chapter and area director of New England. He was affectionately known as Mr. AMS. Upon his retirement the organization established a Woody Baldwin Scholarship fund.

In 1981 at Las Vegas he was awarded Educator of the Year by the Association of Independent Colleges and Schools for his services to these institutions. He spoke at numerous commencement occasions for these and other schools. Dr. Baldwin has been listed in Who's Who in the East and Who's Who in American Education. He received numerous awards for various achievements.

Woody Baldwin was the prototype of "people person". He lived life to the fullest.

He spent most of his retirement preparing the elderly for the aging process. He was twice honored with a lifetime achievement award for his work. The LGBT Community established an award for the person who had contributed most for the elderly gay community. An audience of 900 people in Palm Springs saw Woody receive this prestigious honor in 2012.

Woody Baldwin's proudest achievement was the founding of Prime Timers Worldwide, a social organization for mature gay gentlemen. This organization has grown to more than 80 chapters throughout the world and has almost 10,000 members. Prime Timers established a Woody Baldwin Fund for chapter expansion. His complete biography can be found on the web at "Who the Hell is Woody Baldwin?"

A Celebration of Life service will be held at First Unitarian-Universalist Church at 4700 Grover Street, Austin, Texas on June 18 at 10am. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, Woody has requested that donations be sent to the Matthew Shepard Foundation, 1530 Blake St., Suite 200, Denver, CO 80202.