A tribute to Charles A. Wright, a trailblazer in Black STEM education

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The Florida A&M University family lost yet another titan May 26 when Charles A. Wright, Ph.D., an engineering professor and department chair, died at the age of 82.
For those unaware, Wright grew up on a farm in rural Glenwood, Georgia, during a critical time in American history when Jim Crow segregation laws were the norm across the South, a reality that created separate and unequal educational experiences for Black children who maintained an interest in higher education.
The racial strictures of that era did not deter Wright from excelling academically in high school and later at Savannah State University, a storied HBCU where he graduated with a degree in civil engineering technology in 1967.
As Wright would often remind his students and mentees, Black college students during his youth were often discouraged from pursuing studies in higher level mathematics and science, but his natural curiosity to understand nature and how things worked inspired him to earn a master's degree in civil and public works engineering from the then recently integrated University of Florida in 1972, and a doctoral degree in civil engineering transportation from Vanderbilt University in 1991.
Wright keenly understood the need to pass his vast reservoir of knowledge about science and mathematics to succeeding generations, a passion that propelled many of his pupils to pursue advance degrees in science, technology, and mathematics long before the STEM acronym became a buzzword in academia in the 1980's.
In furtherance of his passion, in 1979, Wright was named the senior lecturer at Egerton Agricultural College in Njoro, Kenya, and he spent the next several years teaching future civil engineers on its campus. Upon returning to the United States in 1982, Wright was hired by then Florida A&M University President Walter Smith to teach civil engineering, a position that saw him eventually rise to the rank of professor emeritus upon his retirement from teaching in civil engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.
While providing his students rigorous instruction, Wright found time to author or co-author over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and books about civil engineering, technology, and safety assessments.
In 2011, cognizant that per the National Science Foundation, Black people represented only 7% of the STEM workforce nationwide, Wright was hired to serve as the inaugural executive director for the James E. Clyburn University Transportation Center (JECUTC) at South Carolina State University, another storied public HBCU located in Orangeburg. Under his leadership, the transportation center became a key hub for studying and advancing transportation needs ranging from regional transit to transcontinental travel.
While Wright's professional accomplishments will be remembered for ages to come, he leaves to mourn his passing his wife of 58 years, Barbara Wright, three children, five grandchildren, numerous godchildren, and thousands of former students across the globe who owe a debt of gratitude for his wise tutelage.
In fact, his professional zeal was only matched by his civic engagements through his beloved Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., the Tallahassee Chapter of 100 Black Men of America, Inc., and historic Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, where he served as a Sunday School teacher and deacon until his untimely illness and passing from Earthly labor to Heavenly reward.
And as one of his many godsons, I can personally attest that his loss is one that cannot be easily assuaged, but we all can rest assured that the City of Tallahassee - and the world - are all for the better because he lived and pursued the FAMU motto, "Excellence with Caring," in words and deeds.
Chuck Hobbs is a past winner of the Florida Bar Media Award, a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, and historian residing in Tallahassee. Reach him via [e-mail].
(Viewing for Charles A. Wright will be noon to 5 p.m. June 6 at Strong & Jones Chapel followed by a wake service at 5 p.m. His funeral service is 11 a.m. June 7th at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church.)
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Charles Wright was an early advocate of Black STEM education | Opinion