TITLE: Commending Dr. George C. Wright on his 10 years as president of Prairie View A&M University.

SUMMARY: Commending Dr. George C. Wright on his 10 years as president of Prairie View A&M University.

FULL TEXT:
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. Giddings White Allen Turner of Harris Bell Straus M. Gonzalez of El Paso Oliveira Allen N. Gonzalez of El Paso Orr Alonzo Gooden Otto Alvarado Guerra Paddie Anchia Guillen Parker Anderson Gutierrez Patrick Ashby Harless Perez Aycock Harper-Brown Perry Bell Hernandez Luna Phillips Bohac Herrero Pickett Bonnen of Brazoria Hilderbran Pitts Bonnen of Galveston Howard Price Branch Huberty Raney Burkett Hughes Ratliff Burnam Hunter Raymond Button Isaac Reynolds Callegari Johnson Riddle Canales Kacal Ritter Capriglione Keffer Rodriguez of Bexar Carter King of Hemphill Rodriguez of Travis Clardy King of Parker Rose Coleman King of Taylor Sanford Collier King of Zavala Schaefer Cook Kleinschmidt Sheets Cortez Klick Sheffield of Bell Craddick Kolkhorst Sheffield of Coryell Creighton Krause Simmons Crownover Kuempel Simpson Dale Larson Smith Darby Laubenberg Smithee Davis of Dallas Lavender Springer J. Davis of Harris Leach Stephenson S. Davis of Harris Lewis Stickland Deshotel Longoria Strama Dukes Lozano Taylor Dutton Lucio III Thompson of Brazoria Eiland Marquez Thompson of Harris Elkins Martinez Toth Fallon Martinez Fischer Turner of Collin Farias McClendon Turner of Harris Farney Menendez Turner of Tarrant Farrar Miles Villalba Fletcher Miller of Comal Villarreal Flynn Miller of Fort Bend Vo Frank Moody Walle Frullo Morrison White Geren Munoz, Jr. Workman Giddings Murphy Wu Goldman Naishtat Zedler Gonzales Nevarez Zerwas Speaker of the House I certify that H.R. No. 61 was adopted by the House on July 11, 2013, by a non-record vote. Chief Clerk of the House