J. Warren Wood III ’63

Warren died Jan. 15, 2021, peacefully at home in Lawrenceville, N.J., after a stent procedure days earlier. He was a class stalwart since graduation, serving a term as treasurer, helping organize reunions, and co-chairing our 55th.

Simply put, Warren exuded competence. During nearly 30 years as vice president, general counsel, and secretary from inception of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, now the largest health-care philanthropy, he oversaw legalities of billions of dollars in grants. He then became a leading figure in arbitration, serving as CEO of the Global Center for Dispute Resolution Research and on boards devoted to dispute resolution.

A high school valedictorian in Portsmouth, Va., at Princeton he majored in English, was a Whig-Clio officer, business manager of the Nassau Lit, chairman of the student-faculty precept program, Army ROTC first sergeant, freshman and sophomore fencer, and Dial Lodge member. As an Army captain he commanded a tactical nuclear-weapons battalion in Germany, then worked as a banker, studied under Antonin Scalia at Virginia, and practiced in Richmond until joining the foundation in 1975.

Warren is survived by his wife of 56 years, Marcia; daughter Lauren Yeh; son Josh; sister Barbara Harrell; and grandchildren Emily Yeh, Madeleine Wood, and Joshua Warren Wood V.