Robert Elkington Wood (1879-1969), American Army officer and business executive, pioneered in modern retailing and was responsible for building Sears, Roebuck and Company into the world's largest merchandising operation.

Robert E. Wood was born on June 13, 1879, in Kansas City, Mo. He won an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy and graduated in 1900. After tours of duty in the Philippines and Montana and teaching at the academy, he wrangled a transfer to Panama, where canal construction was beginning in 1905. He became a captain in 1907 and later was made chief quartermaster. When the canal was completed in 1915, he retired as a major under a special congressional act. He joined E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company but left for General Asphalt Company when he saw no room for advancement.

When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Wood returned to the Army as a colonel and was...