Dr. Stephen J. Wright (1910-1996) was the son of a physician in Dillon, South Carolina. He received his doctoral degree from New York University in 1942. He served as president of Fisk University from 1957 through 1966. He was the second African American to serve in this position at Fisk University. He also served as an expert witness in many desegregation cases, including Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. Following his retirement from Fisk in 1966, Wright was elected president of the United Negro College Fund.