The Undergraduate Faculty Trustee

Richard L. Wright, Ph.D., a member since 2009, was appointed to a professorship at Howard University in 1976, and has served the University continuously for over 35 years. In addition to his primary commitment to teaching, some of his other activities have included: Director of Graduate Study for his department; founding Director of the Annenberg Honors Program in the School of Communications; Director of the Teaching and Graduate Assistants Development Program for his department, Vice-Chair and, subsequently, Chair of the Faculty Senate; and member of three Provost Search Committees.

As an undergraduate student at Howard from 1960-64, he majored in Spanish and minored in French. He was active in student affairs, and shared in campus student activism during the Civil Rights years. He was awarded a Fulbright Grant for travel, study, and lecturing in Guatemala, Central America, and upon his return to the United States in 1965, he accepted a full scholarship at the University of Texas in Austin, earning a M.A. degree in Latin American Studies and a Ph.D. in Sociolinguistics.

He has traveled and lived internationally throughout Latin America, and is competent in both Spanish and Portuguese. He lectures extensively across campus on topics related to language and linguistics, teaching and learning dynamics, language in the Black Community, as well as other issues related to education and the necessity for effective preparation in meeting the complex challenges of contemporary life.