Awards

President's Award for Distinguished Teaching - 2004

Lieber Memorial Associate Instructor Award - 1993

About Eric R. Wright

Eric R. Wright received his BA degree in sociology from Lewis and Clark College in 1984; his MA in sociology from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1987; and his PhD in sociology from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1994.

Wright is director of the Center for Health Policy, a partner with the IU School of Medicine Department of Public Health. He is also the Interim Chair for the Department of Public Health. He holds adjunct appointments in the IU School of Medicine and in the Department of Sociology, IU School of Liberal Arts.

As a medical sociologist, Dr. Wright’s research interests center on social responses to health problems, health policy, and the social organization and effectiveness of health services and public health programs.

Dr. Wright recently completed a research project funded by the National Institute of Mental Health that investigating the role mental health treatment programs play in shaping the HIV risk of people with serious mental illness. He is or has been the principal or co-principal investigator on several other major, funded research and evaluation projects, including the Indianapolis Network Mental Health Study, the Central State Hospital Discharge Study, and the Indiana Youth Access Project. He was also the principal investigator of a comprehensive evaluation of the Dawn Project, a system of care initiative in Indianapolis, and for a new mental health screening program being implemented for children in the child welfare system by the Indiana Department of Child Services.

Dr. Wright has published two books on teaching and more than 50 evaluation reports and peer-reviewed papers that have appeared in sociology and interdisciplinary health journals, including the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Social Networks, Sociological Focus, AIDS Care, Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, and Psychiatric Services.