A precocious student, Dod entered the College when he was fifteen, graduated two years later in 1822, and was appointed professor of mathematics when he was twenty-five. John Maclean said he was unsurpassed as a teacher of this subject. Dod also taught political economy and architecture and was regarded by his students as one of their most stimulating teachers in these subjects as well.
Professor Dod is also remembered by a professorship of mathematics, endowed in 1869 by his son, Samuel B. Dod 1857.