Wright was selected for SCICU Student of the Year honors from among nominees submitted by SCICU’s twenty member colleges and universities. The Greenville-based Center for Scholarship Administration independently conducted the nomination process and submitted the name of the award winner to SCICU.
Wright, a Clinton, SC, native, is the son of David and Ashli Wright. He is a physics and applied mathematics double major.
Science and math have fueled Wright’s passion throughout his four years at PC. Wright has conducted research on granular physics in the PC Summer Fellows program as well as with the NASA / SC Space Grant Consortium. He received an Undergraduate Research Award for the work he completed with NASA. This past summer, Wright was selected to participate in the National Science Foundation TNEWS REU program. He researched two-dimensional materials in the Quantum Device Lab at the University of Arkansas. Wright is currently researching the reaction mechanism of gold nanoparticles with PC physical chemistry professor Dr. Latha Gearheart.
Wright serves as a member and president of the math honor society, Pi Mu Epsilon. He is also a member of the Society of Physics Students and the physics honor society, Sigma Pi Sigma.
In addition to his work in science and math, Wright is a member of Bluefish, a student ministry at PC. He has served as a tutor at the South Carolina Empowerment Center and Clinton High School, and is a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. He served as president of the fraternity in 2017.
Daniel Professor of Mathematics Dr. Brian Beasley and Assistant Professor of Physics Dr. Eli Owens recommended Wright for the 2018 McLean-Smith SCICU Student of the Year Award. Wright plans to attend a Ph.D. program in materials science and engineering after earning his degree from PC in 2019.
Wright’s award acceptance remarks at SCICU’s Sept. 26 Awards Luncheon may be read here.
About the McLean-Smith SCICU Student of the Year Award
In 2016, the SCICU Board of Trustees elected to combine the J. Lacy McLean and the Sterling L. Smith Scholarships into the McLean-Smith SCICU Student of the Year Award. J. Lacy McLean advocated for independent higher education in South Carolina for over 34 years. Sterling L. Smith was instrumental in the development of the SC Tuition Grants Program. The award seeks to recognize students who perform well academically and who demonstrate commitments to public affairs, community service, and leadership.
Full-time rising seniors attending SCICU member colleges and universities are eligible to be nominated for the combined scholarship award. The recipient must be a South Carolina resident and a SC Tuition Grant recipient. Rising sophomores at SCICU two-year institutions are also eligible for the award.