Faculty Profile for Dr. Walter A Wright

Biography Section

Biography and Education

Walter A. Wright is a professor in the Legal Studies Program of the Department of Political Science and an Honorary Professor of International Studies at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He received a B.A. in Political Science and a J.D. in Law from the University of Houston, as well as an LL.M. in International Legal Studies from New York University.

At Texas State University, Professor Wright teaches courses in Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). He is also an adjunct professor of Mediation at the University of Texas School of Law (Austin) and an adjunct professor of Collaborative Law for the Universidad de Alcalá de Henares (Spain). His primary research interest is Mediation, and he has published over 110 articles and book chapters in the United States, Italy, Spain, and several Latin American countries.

Professor Wright has been an attorney since 1977 and a mediator since 1986. As an attorney, he has practiced in the areas of domestic and international commercial transactions, commercial litigation, real estate, and business organizations. As a mediator, he has practiced in the areas of employment, commercial, family, and community disputes. While English is his native language, he is fluent in written and spoken Spanish, and he often mediates disputes in which the parties speak Spanish.

Professor Wright has received an Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching from the College of Liberal Arts and a Presidential Distinction Award for Excellence in Teaching from Texas State University. He also has received recognition as a Favorite Professor from the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society on thirteen occasions. He has mentored over 600 Applied Research Projects and eighty student publications. The Coalition of Black Faculty and Staff at Texas State University has named him a Champion of Black Student Success. Professional organizations, universities and judicial agencies in the United States, Spain, and Latin America often ask him to speak and conduct workshops on legal and ADR topics.

Professor Wright has a strong record of service to the ADR profession. Currently, he is a co-director of El Acuerdo, an ADR magazine published in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and he is an Ambassador for the Foro Internacional de Mediadores Profesionales headquartered in Sevilla, Spain. He conducts basic mediation training courses for the Austin Dispute Resolution Center and the Dispute Resolution Center of Montgomery County, Inc. He also serves on the Council of the Collaborative Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. He was one of the founders of the Central Texas Dispute Resolution Center in San Marcos, Texas. He is former president of the Texas Association of Mediators and the Association of Attorney-Mediators, as well as former Chair of the International Section of the Association for Conflict Resolution. For six years, he was Chair of the Newsletter Editorial Board of Alternative Resolutions, the newsletter of the ADR Section of the State Bar of Texas. He has received several awards for service, including the Steve Brutsché Award from the Association of Attorney-Mediators, the Frank G. Evans Award from the ADR Section of the State Bar of Texas, the Susanne C. Adams Award from the Texas Association of Mediators, and the Outstanding Credentialed Mediator Award from the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association. Texas State University has also awarded him two Golden Apple awards for his service to the university, the ADR and legal professions, and the community.

Teaching Interests

Mediation, Legal Research, Legal Writing, Legal Theory, Contracts, Asylum law.

Research Interests

Mediation and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution.