Mark S. Wrighton

 Mark S. Wrighton is an experienced academician who has served three major research universities for more than 30 years in executive leadership roles.  He is currently the James and Mary Wertsch Distinguished University Professor and Chancellor Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis and is President Emeritus of the George Washington University.  

Educated as a chemist, with a B.S. degree in chemistry from Florida State University in 1969 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology, Wrighton joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1972.  In 1987 he was named Head of the Department of Chemistry and in 1990 became Provost of MIT.  Elected as Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis in 1995, he served 24 years as Chancellor (chief executive officer).  In the fall of 2021 he was elected to be a short term President of the George Washington University (GW) to prepare GW for its search for a more permanent President. 

Wrighton’s research at MIT focused on photochemistry, electrochemistry, surface chemistry, and molecule-based electronics.  His publications include about 300 authored or co-authored research articles and he has 16 patents.  He was recognized for his research by two major awards of the American Chemical Society:  the Pure Chemistry Award in 1981 and the Award in Inorganic Chemistry in 1988.  In 1983 he was named a MacArthur Prize Fellow, and in that same year he received the E. O. Lawrence Award from the United States Department of Energy.  He has been elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1986), of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1988), and of the National Academy of Inventors (2013).  He was elected to membership in the American Philosophical Society in 2001.

Active in public, civic, and professional affairs, Wrighton has served on a number of advisory committees associated with federal funding agencies and was appointed to the National Science Board, 2000-2006.  He has held a leadership role in three studies conducted by the National Academies of Sciences:  Vice Chair of the Committee on America’s Energy Future (2009); Chair of the Committee on the Management of University Intellectual Property (2011); and Chair of the consensus study on The Role of Chemical Research to the U. S. Economy (2022).  Wrighton served as Chair of the Association of American Universities (2004-2005); Chair of the Business-Higher Education Forum (2004-2006); and Chair of the Consortium on Financing Higher Education (2000-2001).  For his civic work in St. Louis, Wrighton was named Citizen of the Year in 2007 by the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Wrighton has served as a consultant to corporations and academic institutions.  He has served on the boards of several public companies, including Azenta Life Sciences, Cabot Corporation and Corning, Inc.  He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Corning, Inc., MIT Corporation, Board of Trustees of the Institute of International Education, and International Advisory Board for Shanghai Jiao Tong University.