BIOGRAPHY
William T. Wright, Jr., Ed. D. was born in Flint, Michigan, but was raised primarily in the Northern part of Nash County, NC, in a community named Swift Creek where both of his parents were raised as children. Dr. Wright is a 1983 graduate of Northern Nash High School in Rocky Mount, NC, and at the time of his graduation, was the youngest graduate in the school’s history at 16 years of age.
After several years of working as a radio broadcaster and manufacturing manager, Dr. Wright finally started his career as a teacher at Edwards Junior High School in Rocky Mount, NC, in 1998. Six years later, he assumed his first principalship at South Edgecombe Middle School in Pinetops, NC, where he served for three years. Dr. Wright holds the distinction of being the first African-American principal of South Edgecombe Middle.
Dr. Wright also served as the principal of Western Harnett High School in Lillington, NC, for three years.
Dr. Wright served as assistant superintendent of auxiliary services for Harnett County Schools for two years. He also served as superintendent of McCormick County Schools in South Carolina for 2 ½ years. Dr. Wright returned to his home state after being selected and sworn in as superintendent of Hertford County Schools on December 1, 2015.
Dr. Wright earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from North Carolina Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount, NC, in 1998. He also holds a Master of School Administration degree from North Carolina State University which he earned in 2004. On December 17, 2011, Dr. Wright earned his Doctor of Education degree from North Carolina State University.
Dr. Wright is married to Mary Barnes Wright, also of Nash County (his high school classmate). They have 35 years of united matrimony. Dr. and Mrs. Wright share two sons, William (Tre`) III, who works with T-Mobile as a recruiter, and M. Deonte, who is a first grade teacher in the NC public school system.
Dr. Wright is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and has been so since 1985. Wright was selected as the Superintendent of the Year for the 2020-2021 School Year by Northeast Regional Education Service Alliance, a conglomerate of 18 school districts in Northeastern North Carolina. He served as the treasurer of the Roanoke River Valley Education Consortium. He also served on the UNC World View Council of Advisors. Dr. Wright still serves as the musician at Union Hill Baptist Church in Nashville, NC. He currently has a podcast that is published on Facebook Live and YouTube called The Wright Experience aimed at educational and professional leadership. Dr. Wright currently serves as the Superintendent of the Sumter School District.