Lori Woods is an Ohio native from a genetically Deaf family. She attended a Deaf school until 7th grade and then transferred to her local school district in Circleville, Ohio. Lori remained in that school until graduation in 1984. During that time, there were no interpreters in classrooms. After graduation, she attended college at Rochester Institute of Technology/ National Technical Institute for the Deaf (RIT/NTID) and worked as an accountant at Nationwide Insurance Company for five years. 

  

Since passing the State of Ohio’s House Bill 216, recognizing American Sign Language (ASL) as a foreign language, Lori has been in the classroom. She began teaching ASL 30+ years ago (1992) for a local community agency. That’s where her passion for teaching began. Since then, Lori has taught at the high school and college levels. 

  

Since 2007, Lori has taught full-time at Ohio Univeristy, Athens, and she is currently a non-tenure track faculty. Also, Lori taught at several high schools, universities, and community colleges in Ohio: Ohio School for the Deaf, Columbus School for Girls, Columbus State Community College, The Ohio State University, Capital University, Ohio University-Chillicothe, Ohio University – Lancaster, and Ohio University-Athens. 

  

Her experience includes teaching ASL I-VI, Introduction to the Deaf Community, ASL Linguistics, Study of Deaf Culture, Conversational ASL, ASL Literature, and Visual Gestural Communication. Lori was honored to present at numerous conventions, including Deaf Students in Ireland and Interpreters in Puerto Rico. 

  

She currently holds Master Level Certification from the National ASL Teachers Association. 

  

From 2000-2005, Lori served as president of the Ohio American Sign Language Teachers Association (Ohio ASLTA). Currently, she serves as president (2021-2023). 

  

Lori loves being outside: walking with her dog, camping, hiking, kayaking, doing yard work, etc. Her favorite place is at the family lake in Richmond Dale, Ohio, where she grew up. She also loves traveling in Europe.