Robert Coldwell Wood, American political scientist and academic (b. 1923)
Robert Coldwell Wood (September 16, 1923 – April 1, 2005) was an American political scientist, academic and government administrator, and professor of political science at MIT. From 1965 to 1969, Wood served as the Under Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Lyndon B. Johnson, and for two weeks as the Secretary at the end of the Johnson Administration.
After his return to MIT, he directed the Joint Center for Urban Studies at MIT and Harvard. He also had a joint appointment as chairman of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. He served as president of the University of Massachusetts (1970-1977), overseeing expansion of programs, including construction of a campus in south Boston.