Alumna inspires others to excel

Olin BlogOlin Blog

This blog post is excerpted the Washington Magazine Summer 2017 issue.
As the founder and owner of J. Wood & Associates, a ­successful management consulting firm, Emeritus Trustee Joyce (Wood) Buchheit, BSBA ’76, MBA ’77, believes in the power of philanthropy to change lives.
Buchheit has given generously to Washington University for nearly 20 years to express her gratitude for the scholarship support, mentorship and career guidance she received as a young mother entering Olin Business School in the 1970s.
“When I started at the business school, there were not many women and very few mothers. I chose Washington University because of the ­financial aid package I was offered,” she recalls.
Olin School Dean Robert Virgil and ­Professor Earl Spiller set her on a career path at Arthur ­Andersen & ­Company, at that time one of the “Big Eight” international accounting firms.
“Dean Virgil and Professor Spiller were outstanding teachers and mentors for their students. They encouraged Arthur Andersen to hire me in spite of the fact that I did not fit the normal age and ­gender profile for the position,” Buchheit says.
“And that scholarship changed my life,” she adds. “Without Washington University and the assistance of the dean and my professors, Arthur ­Andersen would never have hired me and provided me with excellent training and experience in the area of tax ­accounting.”
Giving back
After nearly four years at Arthur Andersen and a brief time at Mark Twain Bank, Buchheit founded J. Wood & Associates in St. Louis in 1984. Four years later, she moved the business to Bonne Terre, Missouri, where she began finding opportunities to give back.
“Christian Hospital had recently invested in the area by creating Parkland Health Center in Farmington, and they asked if I would sit on the board,” she says. Buchheit — who is now married to Chauncy Buchheit, executive director of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning ­Commission — has served on ...

Read More