11/14/2008

George C. Wright Scholarship Established

A new scholarship at Lafayette High School will be named for George C. Wright, a graduate of the University of Kentucky and the current president of Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas. Wright, who is a Lexington native and 1968 graduate of Lafayette, earned bachelor's and master's degrees in history from UK. He is also a member of the UK College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.

The $2,500 scholarship will be awarded annually to a Lafayette High School senior whose activities during high school have made a significant contribution to their school, community, church or other institutions. The scholarship will commemorate Wright's achievements in the field of history and education. In addition to his degrees from UK, he holds a doctorate in history from Duke University.

Wright's research focuses on the lives of Kentucky’s post-Civil War African-American population. Prior to assuming the presidency of Prairie View A&M in 2003, Wright served as executive vice-president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Texas at Arlington. He served on the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin from 1980 to 1993, where he won five teaching awards and was named a member of its Best Professor Hall of Fame in 1991.Wright also served at Duke as vice provost for university programs and director of the African-American Studies Program. In 2004 UK awarded an honorary doctor of letters degree to Wright.

Wright has published three books about Kentucky, two of which received the Governor’s Award for the best book on Kentucky. His research has also led to the production of two television documentaries, “Trouble Behind” about the 1919 Corbin race riot and “Upon This Rock: the Black Church in Kentucky."

Monetary donations to the scholarship fund can be made directly to the scholarship committee. Please send donations to: GCW LHS Scholarship Inc., c/o Jack Coats, 3128 Blenheim Way, Lexington, Ky., 40503.

Allison Elliott UK Public Relations