Race Relations Scholar George C. Wright to Receive UK Libraries Intellectual Achievement Medallion

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 12, 2015) — Tonight the University of Kentucky Libraries Spring Gala will recognize the 2015 recipient of the UK Libraries Medallion for Intellectual Achievement, George C. Wright. The Lexington native, UK alumnus and president of Prairie View A&M University is an esteemed historian and scholar of African-American studies.

"Dr. Wright is an accomplished scholar, an award winning teacher, and a highly recognized higher education administrator. His life and career have made a tremendous difference in the lives of thousands of students and have given us a greater understanding of race relations both in the United States and around the world,” Dean of UK Libraries Terry Birdwhistell said.

The UK Libraries Medallion for Intellectual Achievement is one of UK's most prestigious awards. It was created in 1990 to recognize high intellectual achievement by a Kentuckian who has made a contribution of lasting value to the Commonwealth. The award also promotes education and creative thought. The recipient is determined by the UK Libraries National Advisory Board. Past recipients of the honor include: John Anthony, Wendell Berry, James Still, Bobbie Ann Mason, Thomas D. Clark, Laman A. Gray Jr., Guy Davenport, George C. Herring, Adalin Wichman, John Egerton and Karl Raitz.

As president of Prairie View A&M, Wright leads the second-oldest public institution of higher education in Texas. Offering baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees through nine colleges and schools, the 130-year old historically black university has an established reputation for producing thousands of engineers, nurses and educators.

A native of Lexington, Wright received his bachelor's and master's degrees in history from UK and his doctorate in history from Duke University. In 2004, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters from UK.

Wright's teaching experience began as an assistant professor of history at UK in 1977. From 1980 to 1993, he served the University of Texas at Austin in several capacities as a faculty member, holder of the Mastin Gentry White Professorship of Southern History, and vice provost for undergraduate education. In 1993, he joined the faculty at Duke University as vice provost for university programs and director of the Afro-American studies program; he also held the William R. Kenan Jr. Chair in American History. Prior to joining Prairie View A&M, Wright was executive vice-president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Texas at Arlington.

As an educator, Wright has been the recipient of numerous fellowships, grants and awards. At the University of Texas at Austin, he received the Jean Holloway Award for Teaching Excellence, the “Eyes of Texas” Award for excellence in service and the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Award for “Outstanding Black Faculty Member.” He was awarded the Andrew W. Mellon Faculty Fellowship at Harvard University and was the Friar Society Centennial Fellow for Teaching Excellence, the Silver Spurs Centennial Teaching Fellow and the Lillian and Tom B. Rhodes Centennial Teaching Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin.

Wright is the author of three books on race relations, "A History of Blacks in Kentucky: In Pursuit of Equality, 1890-1980, Volume II"; "Racial Violence in Kentucky, 1865-1940: Lynchings, Mob Rule, and 'Legal Lynchings'"; and the "Life Behind a Veil: Blacks in Louisville, Kentucky, 1865-1930." He has also published many scholarly articles, chapters in books and essays. Wright is currently working on a new book, a biography titled "Charles O’Hara Benjamin: A 'Forgotten' Afro-American Leader," on a Kentucky journalist, attorney, teacher and political activist who fought for racial equality.

Wright has served as a member of the Editorial Board for the Southern Biography Series at Louisiana State University, the Board of Editors of the Journal of Southern History and the Southern Historical Association Program Committee.

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu