| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Dr. George C. Wright is celebrating his 10th |
|
|
anniversary as president of Prairie View A&M University on August |
|
|
15, 2013; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, A native of Lexington, Kentucky, George Wright |
|
|
earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in history from the |
|
|
University of Kentucky and his doctorate in history from Duke |
|
|
University; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, After beginning his academic career at the |
|
|
University of Kentucky in 1977, Dr. Wright taught at The University |
|
|
of Texas at Austin from 1980 to 1993, where he was the Mastin Gentry |
|
|
White Professor of Southern History and vice provost for |
|
|
undergraduate education; in 1993, he became the vice provost for |
|
|
university programs and director of the African and African |
|
|
American Studies program at Duke University; he went on to serve as |
|
|
executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at The |
|
|
University of Texas at Arlington; on August 15, 2003, he became the |
|
|
seventh president of Prairie View A&M University, the second-oldest |
|
|
public institution of higher learning in the Lone Star State; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Dr. Wright's scholarship includes three books, A |
|
|
History of Blacks in Kentucky, Volume 2: In Pursuit of Equality, |
|
|
1890-1980; Life Behind a Veil: Blacks in Louisville, Kentucky, |
|
|
1865-1930; and Racial Violence in Kentucky, 1865-1940: Lynchings, |
|
|
Mob Rule, and "Legal Lynchings", which earned him the Governor's |
|
|
Award of the Kentucky Historical Society; his work-in-progress is a |
|
|
biography of the African American leader Robert Charles O'Hara |
|
|
Benjamin; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, This distinguished scholar, educator, and |
|
|
administrator has received many fellowships, grants, and awards; he |
|
|
earned the Jean Holloway Award for Excellence in Teaching, the |
|
|
"Eyes of Texas Excellence" Award, and the Kappa Alpha Psi |
|
|
Fraternity Award for Outstanding Black Faculty Member from The |
|
|
University of Texas at Austin, where he was also the Friar Society |
|
|
Centennial Fellow for Teaching Excellence, the Silver Spurs |
|
|
Centennial Teaching Fellow, and the Lillian and Tom B. Rhodes |
|
|
Centennial Teaching Fellow; in addition, he received the Andrew |
|
|
W. Mellon Faculty Fellowship at Harvard University; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Dr. Wright has contributed to his profession as a |
|
|
member of the editorial boards of the Louisiana State University |
|
|
Press Southern Biography Series and the Journal of Southern History |
|
|
and through his work with the Southern Historical Association |
|
|
Program Committee; a leader in his community as well, he has served |
|
|
on the boards of the Arlington Chamber Foundation and the Medical |
|
|
Center of Arlington; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Under his exemplary leadership, Prairie View A&M |
|
|
University has built on its already sterling reputation for |
|
|
providing an excellent education to generations of engineers, |
|
|
nurses, and educators, and Dr. Wright may indeed take great pride |
|
|
in his skilled stewardship of the university as he celebrates this |
|
|
special anniversary; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
|
|
Legislature, 2nd Called Session, hereby congratulate Dr. George |
|
|
C. Wright on his 10 years as president of Prairie View A&M |
|
|
University and extend to him sincere best wishes for continued |
|
|
success in his important work; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for Dr. Wright as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
|
|
House of Representatives. |