President Emeritus Wright in the News
November 2014
The Office of Alumni Relations and Dartmouth Club of Hawaii organized a Dartmouth educational program in Honolulu, Hawaii, featuring presentations by James Wright on the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941 and its aftermath, and on the way Americans have remembered and memorialized the country's wars and those who have sacrificed in them.August/September 2014
In preparation for his book about the Vietnam War, Wright traveled to Vietnam. See coverage of the trip at http://now.dartmouth.edu/2014/10/james-wright-visits-vietnam-to-retrace-wars-history/?utm_source=dhome&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=dhome_carousel3
June 4, 2014
Celebrating the 70th anniversary of D-Day landings, the Wrights participated in the Dartmouth Alumni "Celtic Lands" trip on the Le Boreal ship. James Wright delivered two lectures on the voyage on the consequences of the idea of the "Greatest Generation" and on American war memorials.
April 3, 2014
James and Susan Wright were invited to West Point. James was a guest lecturer at two West Point classes, and both Susan and James joined an Officer Professional Development Session for a Fireside Chat "Leading Educational Diversity: The Evolution of Gender and Race Relations at a Formerly All-male Institution."
February 5, 2014
The Dickey Center sponsored a panel discussion with James Wright, General Carter Ham, Paula Schnurr, Christopher Allen '15, and Daniel Benjamin , "From the Front Line to the Home Front: American Troops and the Challenge of Post-Service Reintegration." Wright gave opening remarks and participated in the panel discuss regarding the challenges our service men and women confront as they return home from life in a war zone. Watch video of the event: http://dickey.dartmouth.edu/events/event?event=27617
October 8, 2013
Wright presented the keynote address at the Texas A&M Military Friendly Symposium at Texas A&M University. Article about the event at http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/article_518677e8-dd83-56d6-8f66-e635b3b2eda6.html
May 12, 2013
James Wright delivered the commencement speech at Rollins College. See more at http://360.rollins.edu/college-news/james-wrights-commencement-speech
April 11, 2013
The William E. Colby Military Writers' Symposium at Norwich University featured James Wright, Karl Marlantes, Dave McIntyre, and Jon Coffin on a panel discussion - "Coming Home: The Hopes, Fears, and Challenges of Veterans Returning From War." Wright also presented remarks about his book and work with veterans.
March 20, 2013
On the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, James Wright presented a public lecture as the Presidential Fellow at Rollins College's Winter Park Institute. He spoke about the ways in which Americans have thought of wars and warriors throughout our history, and offered observations on veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with a reminder to all that there is still a war going on. Read more...
December 11, 2012
Wright participated in a panel of leading voices in higher education, industry, government, and the veterans community at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The panel discussion, "Empowering the Next Greatest Generation: Considering the Promise of the Post-9/11 GI Bill" covered issues and strategies for educational attainment and success of post-9/11 veterans. The event was sponsored by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) at Syracuse University. The event is available on YouTube.
November 19, 2012
The publication of Forever New: The Speeches of James Wright, edited by Sheila Culbert and published by the University Press of New England, was celebrated at the Top of the Hop. Jeffrey Horrell introduced the speakers, who included Carol Folt, Donald Pease, Sheila Culbert, and James Wright.
November 14, 2012
Wright presented a lecture "What Does America Owe Its Veterans?" at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. The presentation focused on the themes of Wright's book, Those Who Have Borne the Battle: A History of America's Wars and Those Who Fought Them, a title borrowed from Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address. Watch the event...
October 27, 2012
A panel discussion titled "Hometown Heroes: Perspectives on the American Military Experience," was held at the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center. The event included presentations by President Emeritus Wright and trustee Nathaniel Fick '99, and was moderated by Rockefeller Center Director Andrew Samwick. Veterans' issues were discussed, including the scale of America's military conflicts and the reintegration of veterans back into civilian life. See video on YouTube.
October 6, 2012
A roundtable discussion, "American Soldiers, U.S. Obligations," was part of the Dartmouth History Department's Symposium on "Military Service and National Obligation." The panel featured James Wright and John Nagl, Jennifer Fluri and Russell Muirhead and explored themes from Wright's most recent book. Wright said "We need to talk about and understand a subject that is too often ignored - the nature of war and our long-term obligation to those who volunteer to fight our wars, an increasingly small and unrepresentative sector of our population."
August 18, 2012
The Sun Valley Writers' Conference 2012 invited James Wright to speak at two occasions. Wright presented "My Unexpected Book," in which he spoke about his work with America's wounded veterans and how those interactions led him to write his recent book. He also presented "America and its Warriors," discussing the ways in which Americans have thought of wars and warriors throughout our history, and how the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan fit into this national narrative.
July 18, 2012
Wright presented a lecture, "Reflections on America's Obligations to Those Who Have Fought its Wars" at the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation Summer Speaker Series "Interesting People, Interesting Times."
April 26, 2012
The Center For a New American Security (CNAS) in Washington, D.C., celebrated the launch of James Wright's new book. Those Who Have Borne the Battle: A History of America's Wars and Those Who Fought Them sheds light on America's complicated relationship with its armed forces and on the evolution of the treatment of it soldiers and veterans from the Revolutionary War to today. Greg Jaffe, the Pulitzer Price-winning Pentagon Reporter for The Washington Post, interviewed Dr. Wright, followed by Q&A with the audience. Read more...
April 15, 2012
Wright was invited to speak at the 75th Annual Meeting of the Southern University "Presidents as Intellectuals" 2012 Conference, where he presented "Recognizing Those Who Sacrifice: Reflections on Presidential use of the Bully Lectern."
March 2012
In its March 2012 Newsletter, the Class of 1964 featured an article written by their adopted classmate, James Wright, "The Pleasure of the Unplanned Life and the Unexpected Turn."
November 11, 2011
The annual Veterans Day Lecture at Rockefeller Center was delivered by James Wright. In "Remembering Those 'who have borne the battle'" Wright spoke about the role of war throughout U.S. history, but also about the human face of war and the hardships faced by returning veterans.
April 25, 2011
Wright presented "The Place of the Korean War in American Memory," an ILEAD lecture about how Americans view war and their warriors, with observations about how American society remembered the Korean War from June 1950 to July 1953. That war, once called a "police action," is often referred to as the "forgotten war" although it was a defining conflict for the two political entities that are Korea, and for future U.S. wars.
November 4 - 14, 2010
James Wright was invited to Yonsei University's Underwood International College in South Korea as the Shinhan Bank Distinguished Professor, where he delivered a week-long seminar on "American Culture and Those Who Fight America's Wars," and a public lecture, "Veterans Day in America: The Place of the Korean War in a National Day of Memory.
March 5, 2010
President Emeritus Wright received the Eleanor M. McMahon Award for Lifetime Achievement, presented by the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) for his leadership on behalf of higher education and the advancement of educational opportunity.
February 2 - 3, 2010
James Wright presented the annual Jefferson Memorial Lecture "War Veterans and American Democracy" at the University of California, Berkeley and was one of a number of participants in a panel about veterans. Read the text of his remarks. To watch the video of the lecture, click here.
Wright was also a guest on "Conversations with History" with Harry Kreisler on February 4. The interview has been posted on YouTube.
Past Events
November 11, 2009
President Emeritus Wright was one of the featured speakers at Veterans' Day observances at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. Read the text of President Wright's remarks, or watch a video of Wright's speech.