Dr. R.Y. (Roz) Woodhouse has had a distinguished career. Appointed Director of the State Department of Licensing by Governor Dixy Lee Ray in 1977, thus becoming the first female Chief Motor Vehicle Administrator in the nation. She was the first African American woman ever to hold a cabinet level position in the State of Washington.
In 1977, from a field of 25,000 nominees, Dr. Woodhouse was honored as one of the “Ten Outstanding Young Women in America.” In the same year, the legislature of her home state of Michigan enacted a special tribute to her for “Civic and Professional Achievement.”
Dr. Woodhouse has a Bachelor of Science, a Masters of Social Work, and the Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Policy, Governance, and Administration, all from the University of Washington in Seattle. The University Library system recently established The Rossalind Woodhouse Special Collection containing myriad documents and papers chronicling Dr. Woodhouse’s personal and professional journeys.
Married to the late legendary jazz and blues vocal stylist, Woody Woodhouse, for 48 years, she is the mother of two and proud Nana to two Grand Girly Girls.
