IDEA Institute Staff

Ashleigh Wright serves as the director of IDEA and assistant teaching professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. She collaborates with college and departmental leaders to identify priorities, develop evidence-based strategies and measure progress quantitatively against key metrics that expand opportunity and access for undergraduate and graduate student communities.

Dr. Wright conducts research analyzing innovation pathways, success factors and proven methodologies to create engineering environments where problem-solvers with diverse perspectives excel. She is a member of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) and is the affiliate advisor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign NOBCChE Student Chapter.

Before joining the university, Dr. Wright managed numerous training and pathway programs that expanded access to STEM, and facilitated workshops enhancing the academic, personal and professional development of students at North Carolina State University and Louisiana State University. She holds degrees in chemistry from Wofford College (BS), North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (MS) and Louisiana State University (PhD).

Courses

• Foundations of Scientific Research and Professional Preparation (ENG 298)
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Service Seminar (ENG 591)
• Professional Leadership for Engineers (MSE 591)

Proposals

External Funding
National Science Foundation (NSF) EES  #2409182- Louis Stokes New STEM Pathways Implementation-Only Alliance: Southern Central Illinois Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (SCI-LSAMP), $3,500,000; PI: Chancellor Robert C. Jones, Co-PIs: Wright, A.R. (Alliance Director), Golecki, H.M, Wilson, B.A., Lleras, A. (terminated May 2025)

NSF Broadening Participation in Engineering (BPE) EES #2308531- Collaborative Research: Track 4: Developing Equity-Minded Engineering Practitioners (DEEP), $800,000; PI: Dean Rashid Bashir Co-PIs: Althaus, E., Wright, A.R., Goddard, L., Cromley, J. (terminated May 2025)

National Science Foundation (NSF) HRD 1810759- Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Bridge to the Doctorate (BD), LSAMP BD: North Carolina State University Preparing Researchers of the Future (PROF) NC-LSAMP, $1,075,000; PI: Provost A. Warwick, Co-PIs: Ducoste, J. Wright, A.R., Charles, R.A.

NSF HRD 1702501- Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Bridge to the Doctorate- LSU/BD 8 – 2017 Cohort Louisiana Broadening Resources for Increasing Diversity in Graduate Education (LA-BRIDGE) Funding Number 15-594, $1,075,000; PI: Thomas, G. Co-PIs: Wright, A.R., Bagayoko, D., Wilson, Z.S., Warner, I.M.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) 1UL1MD009607-01 – Building Integrated Pathways to Independence for Diverse (BUILD) Biomedical Researchers (awarded to Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA)- subaward to LSU); XULA PI: D’Amour, G.; LSU PI: Thomas, G. Co-PIs: Wright, A.R., Warner, I.M.

 Internal Funding
Office of the Chancellor Engaged Unit Program (Cohort 3) Socially Just Impact Measures for Community Engagement in Engineering (IMCEE), $7,500; PI: Hebert, L., Co-PIs: Golecki, H.M., Rosu, L., Wright, A., Irving-Thomas, O., Kirchgesner, E.

Grainger College of Engineering Strategic Research Initiative (SRI) Phase 1: $50,000 Grainger Engineering – Morgan State University Faculty Exchange; Phase 2: $75,000 Student Exchange; Goddard, L., Wright, A.R., Althaus, E.W.

Publications

Education
Wright, A.R., Golecki, H.M., Henderson, J., Darner, R., Ibrahim, N., Wilson, B.A., Cozy, L., Bellot, B.J., Biswas, M., Lleras, A., Jaggi, N., Edgcomb-Friday, M., Bishop, T., Lipovsky, C., LSAMP: A Roadmap for Institution Collaboration During Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Partnerships (LSAMP) Program Development, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) National Conference, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 2025. DOI: 10.18260/1-2--55766

Golecki, H.M., Chang, W.L., Wright, A.R., Shehab Saadeddine, Johnson, B.E., Hajj, R., King, C., Pascarella, P.M., Hamilton, L., Developing a Podcasting Platform to Support Engineering Education, ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 2025. DOI: 10.18260/1-2—56247

Adeika, B. I., & Owolabi, O. A., & Abiodun, P. O., & Matthew, K., & Althaus, E. W., Wright, A., & Goddard, L., & Shobowale, O. S., Fusion of COPUS and DEI Tools for Equitable STEM Classroom Engagement, ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 2025. DOI: 10.18260/1-2—56626

Wright, A.R., Althaus, E.W., Sood, A., Cooper, S.L., Goddard, L., Grassroots Approach to Advancing Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access in Engineering, ASEE Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD) Conference Proceedings, 2025. DOI: 10.18260/1-2—54095

 Mann, J., Wright, A., Althaus, E.W., Chang, W.L., Ansari, A., Cvetkovic, C., Hajj, R., Golecki, H.M., Reflective Teaching Practices for Equity-Minded Engineering Instructors, CoNECD Conference Proceedings, 2025. DOI: 10.18260/1-2--54108

 Wright, A.R., Brent, C.R., Dickey, E.C., Weems, K.S., Reich, B.J., Jackson, C.R., A Bridge to the Ph.D. for URM Students, CoNECD Conference Proceedings, 2019. DOI: 10.18260/1-2--31735

Science
Wright, A.R., Li, M., Ravula, S., Cadigan, M., El-Zahab, B., Das, S., Baker, G., Warner, I.M., Soft- and Hard-Templated Organic Salt Nanoparticles Get the Midas Touch: Gold-shelled NanoGUMBOS, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2014, 2, 8996-9003. https://doi.org/10.1039/C4TC01006J 

Hoppens, M., Wheeler, Z. E., Qureshi, A. T., Hogan, K., Wright, A., Stanley, G. G., Young, D., Savage, P. B., Hayes, D., Maghemite, Silver, Ceragenin Conjugate Particles for Selective Binding and Contrast of Bacteria, Journal of Colloid & Interface Science. 2014, 413, 167-174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2013.09.016

Adeniyi, W.K., Wright, A.R., Novel Fluorimetric Assay of Trace Analysis of Epinephrine in Human Serum, Spectrochimica Acta Part A., 2009, 74, 1001-1004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2009.09.028