UMSL criminologist Richard Wright (center) was presented with the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Service by UMSL Chancellor Tom George (left) and Ron Yasbin, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, on Friday.

Richard Wright, a Curators’ Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, was surprised last week by Chancellor Tom George with the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Service.

Wright, of Webster Groves, Mo., has been actively engaged within his department, university and the University of Missouri System during his 25-plus year career. He has served as department chair and on a multitude of committees – including the Faculty Senate and University Assembly, Intercampus Faculty Council and the University Promotion and Tenure Committee. His professional service includes a long and active role in the American Society of Criminology.

Wright also serves as editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Sociology, housed in the London School of Economics. He is the first editor not on the faculty of either the LSE or the University of Oxford in England and who is American.

“It is an honor to receive this award, especially because I know that there are so many other deserving individuals across the campus,” Wright said. “An even bigger honor, though, has been the chance to serve my department, college, university and profession over the past quarter century. Words cannot express how grateful I am to have had that opportunity. I owe UMSL a lot.”

Each year, the Chancellor’s Award for Service recognizes and honors outstanding academic, humanitarian or professional service on the campus and/or beyond the boundaries of the university.

Wright earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social ecology from the University of California in Irvine and a doctoral degree in criminology from the University of Cambridge in England.