Kathryn Wright

Professor/Marshall University

Kathryn Wright has a life-long career of leveraging education as a means of advancing women and people of color. She grew up in Gulfport, MS and soon after high school married Thomas Wright. They came to Huntington in 1954 and for a while worked as his assistant in the dentist office. She enrolled in Marshall University and earned a bachelor’s degree in education and taught in the Cabell County School system at Barnett Elementary School for three years before returning to Marshall to earn a master’s degree. She earned her Ph.D. from Ohio State University. She became a professor of Early Childhood Education at Marshall University, teaching from 1967 – 2002. She was a trailblazer, serving as the second longest tenured faculty member of color at Marshall with over thirty-five years of service. She was also an Adjunct Professor for Ohio University on the Southern campus from 1970 – 2018. She was 86 years old when she retired.

She served as a role model to many women and people of color. She was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, Phi Delta Kappa, the Association of Childhood Education International, the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development and the WV Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. She was a member of Ebenezer United Methodist Church.