Jeff R. Wright

Jeff Wright is a noted authority on spatial analysis and decision support modeling, with applications to natural resources, energy, intelligent infrastructure and environmental systems.

He was founding dean of engineering at University of California, Merced, and is currently director of the UC Merced branch of Center for Computer and Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) based at Berkeley

Previously, he spent 20 years in various capacities at Purdue University, including associate dean for research and director of the Indiana Water Resources Research Center. He also is co-author of a textbook on civil and engineering systems.

Wright has undergraduate degrees in social psychology and civil engineering from University of Washington and a Ph.D from the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering from The John Hopkins University.

He also believes the San Joaquin Valley can be a leader in clean energy. “As our nation and the world shifts to a renewables-based energy economy, communities that can adapt quickly in taking full advantage of that transition will benefit both economically and politically,” he said. “Nowhere is this potential greater than in the Central San Joaquin Valley.”