Reverend Wilson earns doctorate

Reverend Woodrow Wesley Wilson (known as “Little Woody” to his Choctaw relatives) successfully defended his dissertation on March 31.

He graduated with his Doctorate in education in administration and leadership Ed.D on May 13, 2023, from Southern Nazarene University in Warr Acres, Oklahoma.

Woody is Choctaw, Kiowa and Apache and was raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Woody’s parents are Wilmon and Pamela Wilson. Woody’s grandparents were the late Woody Wilson (Choctaw) and Lillian “Mickey” Goombi Wilson (Kiowa/Apache). His Choctaw great-grandparents were Rev. Noah and Carrie Wilson from Smithville, Oklahoma.

Woody’s Kiowa name is “Aim Daw-kya Thoen-Gya Tho,” meaning “He speaks God’s Word.”

On his Kiowa side, his great-grandparents were the late Adolphus and Cynthia Berry Goombi and great-great grandparents the late Tennyson Berry and Anna Jones Berry.

Woody’s educational background was at the following: Muskogee High School graduate, 1996; Haskell Indian Nations University B.S. in Elementary Education, 2008; The University of New Mexico master’s in language literacy and sociocultural studies (LLSS) with a concentration in American Indian Education in 2013.

“We would like to thank God for giving Woody the opportunity to be a student at the highest level possible while also being the pastor at Ada First Indian Baptist Church and while also being a full-time employee with the Chickasaw Nation. Yakoke! Aho! Family and friends, and to the Choctaw Nation Higher Ed Program for your support all these years,” said Woody’s wife, Tashina Wilson. “Woody, Chihowa yvt chi yukpalashke, micha chi halanlashke. I-nashuka ya chi on tohwikelichashke; micha chi kanashke. Numbers 7:24-25.”