Background
Wright, Verna was born on December 31, 1928 in Bedford, England. Son of Thomas William and Nancy Eleanor (Knight) Wright.
Wright, Verna was born on December 31, 1928 in Bedford, England. Son of Thomas William and Nancy Eleanor (Knight) Wright.
Wright was educated at Bedford School and studied medicine at the University of Liverpool, then spent two years at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
As an actively practising evangelical Christian, Wright helped to found United Beach Missions, an organization whose goal was to preach the Christian gospel message to holidaymakers in Llandudno. The organization, under his leadership, grew to over 3000 people, ministering on the beaches of Britain, France and Belgium. Wright was also named as Chairman for the youth outreach organization Young Life.
Throughout his ministry work, Wright focused on the "grass roots" approach, which particularly appealed to his young audience.
After gaining his Doctor of Medicine degree from Liverpool, Wright lectured at the University of Leeds for two years before becoming a research fellow at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. In 1964 he returned to Leeds as a Consultant Physician and Senior Lecturer, where he helped establish a specialist rheumatology unit
In 1970 he was appointed Professor of Rheumatology in the Department of Medicine at Leeds, a post he held until his retirement in 1994. His research was characterized by a multidisciplinary approach, including engineering and pharmacology.
He was partly responsible for establishing the field of rehabilitation medicine as a speciality in its own right.
Wright accurately predicted genetic links between different forms of arthritis prior to the development of laboratory tests which would later prove him correct. Wright was a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians) and served as chairman of the Arthritis and Rheumatism Council, was a co-director of the Bioengineering Group for the study of Human Joints and President of the Creation Science Movement in England. While at Leeds, Wright wrote or co-authored over 1000 scientific papers and 21 books
When faced with impending death, Wright said, "When you see the tape, you run faster".
On his death, a Leeds hospital hung its flag at half-mast, indicating the respect with which he was regarded. Wright married Esther Margaret Brown in 1952.
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Fellow Royal College Physicians. Member British Society for Rheumatology, British Society Rheology, Biological Engineering Society, British Orthopaedic Association, British Orthopaedic Research Society, British Medical Association (Bronze medal 1973), American Rheumatism Association, Society for Research in Rehabilitation, Back Pain Research Society, Medical Disability Society, Brazilian Society for Rheumatology (honorary), Canada Rheumatism Association (honorary), Hellenic Society for Rheumatology (honorary), Italian Society Rheumatology (honorary).
Married Esther Knight, August 8, 1952. Children: Stephen, Paul. Susannah, Andrew, Miriam, Deborah, Mark, Phillipa, James.