Michael Melville Wood (born 1947) is Chairman of Redwood Investments LLC, a

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

investment company concentrating in media, real estate, and alternative energy. He is from

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

. From 2006 to 2009 he was the

United States Ambassador to Sweden The United States ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden () serves as the official diplomatic representative of the United States to the Monarchy of Sweden, King and the Government of Sweden, Government of the Kingdom of Sweden. Sweden – United S ...

Early life and education

Wood was born in 1947. Wood attended

Phillips Academy Phillips Academy (also known as PA, Phillips Academy Andover, or simply Andover) is a Private school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students located in ...

, and received his bachelor's degree at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. At Yale he was a

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest Fraternities and sororities, fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active Colony (fraternity or sorority), colonies across No ...

fraternity brother of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

Career

Wood is the co-founder and former CEO of

Hanley Wood Zonda Home provides data and publications relating to commercial property and home construction in North America. The company's publications include ''Architect'', the official magazine of the American Institute of Architects, ''Builder'', the off ...

, LLC. He stepped down as CEO after the company was sold to J.P. Morgan Partners, however he kept a seat on the Hanley Wood board. On June 16, 2005, Wood was the recipient of the Top Executive of the Year Award from Media Business magazine. Wood was co-founder and CEO of Hanley Wood LLC, the leading media company in the housing and construction industry and one of the ten largest business-to-business media companies in the U.S. Wood and private equity partner Veronis Suhler Stevenson sold Hanley Wood to J.P. Morgan Partners on August 1, 2005. Wood was sworn in as the

United States ambassador Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve as the United States' diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as ambassadors-at-large. Under Article II, Section 2 of th ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

on June 5, 2006. Shortly after being sworn, he announced that his top priority was cooperation between the U.S. and Sweden in alternative energy technology. During his three years in Sweden he traveled to all 21

län ( Swedish, ), ( Danish, ), ( Finnish, ) and ( Norwegian, ) refer to the administrative divisions used in Sweden and previously in Denmark, Finland and Norway. The provinces of Finland were abolished on 1 January 2010. In Norway, the term was ...

(counties) looking for alternative energy companies that could benefit from cooperation with American venture capital and research institutions. The Ambassador’s list of the best of these Swedish companies contains 52 firms and the embassy estimates the resulting volume of activity between Swedish firms and US interests is $150–200MM. The most important results were in biofuels, automotive engine technology, and alternative jet fuel. He resigned on January 20, 2009, when President George W. Bush left office. He returned to private life and his work with Redwood Investments. In recognition for this work, on May 4, 2009, His Majesty The King of Sweden made Wood a Commander Grand Cross of the

Royal Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order o ...

, an

order of merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

given by the Cabinet of Sweden to foreign citizens and stateless individuals who have made significant contributions to Sweden. On February 6, 2009, in a ceremony at the

House of Sweden The House of Sweden is a building in Washington, D.C., which hosts the Embassy of Sweden, the Embassy of Iceland, and the Embassy of Liechtenstein to the United States. The building is located at 2900 K Street N.W. in the Georgetown neighborho ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, Wood was presented the William Wachtmeister Award for advancing Swedish-American relations. On October 22, 2008, Swedish Deputy Prime Minister

Maud Olofsson Maud Elisabeth Olofsson (born ''Olsson'', 9 August 1955) is a former Swedish politician who was the leader of the Swedish Centre Party from 2001 to 2011, Minister for Enterprise and Energy from 2006 to 2011 and Deputy Prime Minister of Swede ...

presented Wood the ESBRI Award for the person who has done the most for entrepreneurship in Sweden.

Personal life

He and his wife, Judy, have two adult children and Eight grandchildren.

References

External links

Michael Wood, U.S. Ambassador to Sweden

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Michael M. Living people 1947 births Ambassadors of the United States to Sweden Businesspeople from Michigan People from Flint, Michigan Yale University alumni 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American diplomats