Wilbur Wright College

{{Short description|Community college in Chicago, Illinois, US}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox university | name = Wilbur Wright College | native_name = | image = Wright College.JPG | image_size = | caption = Learning Resource Center at Wright's Narragansett campus | latin_name = | motto = Education that Works | mottoeng = | established = {{Start date and age|1934}} | closed = | type = [[Community college|Community]] | affiliation = [[City Colleges of Chicago]] | endowment = | officer_in_charge = | chairman = | chancellor = Juan Salgado | president = Andres Oroz | vice-president = Gabe Estill | superintendent = | provost = | vice_chancellor = | rector = | principal = | dean = | director = | head_label = | head = | faculty = | staff = | students = 9,367<ref name="enrollment">As of spring 2019. {{cite web | title=Spring Enrollment Report | url=https://www.iccb.org/iccb/wp-content/pdfs/reports/Spring_Enrollment_Report_2019.pdf | publisher=Illinois Community College Board | access-date=29 April 2020 | archive-date=13 April 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413015353/https://www.iccb.org/iccb/wp-content/pdfs/reports/Spring_Enrollment_Report_2019.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> | undergrad = | postgrad = | doctoral = | other = | city = [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] | state = [[Illinois]] | country = U.S. | coordinates = {{coord|41|57|31.8|N|87|47|17.9|W|region:US-IL_type:edu|display=inline,title}} | campus = Large city | former_names = Wright Junior College | free_label = | free = | sports = | colors = Brown, grey | sports_nickname = | mascot = Rams | affiliations = | website = {{url|ccc.edu/wright}} | logo = | footnotes = }}

'''Wilbur Wright College''' is a public municipal [[community college]] in the [[Dunning, Chicago|Dunning]] community area in the northwestern side of [[Chicago]], Illinois, United States. It is part of the [[City Colleges of Chicago]] system.

It offers two-year [[associate's degrees]], as well as occupational training in IT, manufacturing, medical, cyber tech, and business fields. Its main campus is located on Chicago's Northwest Side in the [[Dunning, Chicago|Dunning]] neighborhood.

==History==

Wilbur Wright College was established in 1934 by the [[Chicago Board of Education]] as one of the system of three city junior colleges designed to serve the post-secondary educational needs of Chicago residents.<ref name="ccc_history">{{cite web |title=City Colleges of Chicago - History |url=http://www.ccc.edu/menu/Pages/History.aspx |website=www.ccc.edu}}</ref> For a three-year period during [[World War II]], the [[United States Navy]] leased the facilities and trained thousands of men as part of the [[Electronics Training Program]]. The college remained in its initial location at 3400 N. Austin Ave. until moving to a new campus in 1993.

In 1966, Wright and the other city colleges were reorganized into a new community college district, named the [[City Colleges of Chicago]], with its own Board of Trustees and taxing authority. This system includes colleges which, in turn, are a part of the State system comprising 40 public community college districts and 49 individual colleges. In 1996, Wilbur Wright College was named an HSI, serving a 25% or larger Latine population, by [https://www.hacu.net HACU].

Under the City Colleges of Chicago's new college to Careers initiative, Wright is [[City Colleges of Chicago]]'s hub for Information Technology.<ref name="Daley College among three City Colleges to target jobs in growth industries">"[http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/news/15943967-418/daley-college-among-three-city-colleges-to-target-jobs-in-growth-industries.html#.VFPi0vnF9yw] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031214844/http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/news/15943967-418/daley-college-among-three-city-colleges-to-target-jobs-in-growth-industries.html#.VFPi0vnF9yw|date=2014-10-31}}." Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on October 31, 2014.</ref>

==Campus==

Wright College was originally located in a large building at 3400 N. Austin Avenue, in Chicago. The original Wright campus is now home to the Chicago Academy Elementary School, the Chicago Academy High School, and the [[Academy for Urban School Leadership]]'s central office. Due to needs for additional space and more specialized facilities, in 1993 it moved to a 23-acre parcel at 4300 N. Narragansett Avenue, at a cost of $90 million.<ref name="Bond Issue Okd For New Wright Campus">Charles Mount (May 14, 1986). [https://web.archive.org/web/20140407082616/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-05-14/news/8602030737_1_bond-issue-classrooms-and-laboratories-new-campus "Bond Issue Okd For New Wright Campus"], ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''</ref> The campus was designed by renowned Chicago-area architect [[Bertrand Goldberg]]<ref name="Bertrand Goldberg | Wright College">"[http://bertrandgoldberg.org/projects/wright-college/]. Bertrand Goldberg. Retrieved on February 21, 2013.</ref> In 2013, the school began a $3.5 million project to renovate and install new HVAC systems in the Learning Resource Center, a pyramid and one of the campus' landmarks.<ref name="Board of Trustees Res. 508">"[http://apps.ccc.edu/brpublic/2012/july/31493.pdf]. Board of Trustees Resolution 508. 12 July 2012.</ref>

Wright College is a leader in sustainability and was recognized as a Bronze Level Compact School in the Illinois Campus Sustainability Compact Program. The [[National Arbor Day Foundation]] has named Wright College as a Tree Campus USA for three consecutive years.<ref name="Arbor Day Foundation Names Wilbur Wright College a 2012 Tree Campus USA">"[http://www.ccc.edu/colleges/wright/news/Pages/Arbor-Day-Foundation-Names-Wilbur-Wright-College-a-2012-Tree-Campus-USA.aspx] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316030209/http://www.ccc.edu/colleges/wright/news/Pages/Arbor-Day-Foundation-Names-Wilbur-Wright-College-a-2012-Tree-Campus-USA.aspx|date=2013-03-16}}." City Colleges of Chicago. Retrieved on February 21, 2013.</ref>

==Humboldt Park Vocational Center== Humboldt Park Vocational Center is a satellite site of Wright College and offers classes that teach adult basic education skills, vocational training and other programs.<ref name="Humboldt Park Vocational Education Center of Wilbur Wright College">"[http://www.humboldtparkportal.org/directory/2986] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031204203/http://www.humboldtparkportal.org/directory/2986|date=2014-10-31}}." Humboldt Park Portal. Retrieved on October 31, 2014.</ref> The facility offers a nine-month advanced certification program in computerized numerical control (CNC) machining. In 2012, the CNC machining program placed 100 percent of its graduates into jobs paying $40,000 a year, with the potential to jump to $55,000 to $65,000 in less than two years.<ref name="Nine months in trade school. Job guaranteed.">"[https://web.archive.org/web/20120317051432/http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/14/smallbusiness/trade-schools]." CNN Money. Retrieved on October 31, 2014.</ref>

==Accreditation== Wilbur Wright College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and approved by the Illinois Community College Board and the Illinois Office of Education Department of Adult, Vocational, and Technical Education. The program in Radiography is accredited by the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology; the Business Department is accredited by the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs; and the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE). The paralegal program is accredited by the American Bar Association.

==Notable alumni== * [[Jerry G. Bishop]] - Emmy Award-winning television personality * [[Oscar Brashear]] - Jazz trumpeter * [[Herbert C. Brown]] - Nobel Prize winner * [[Dennis Franz]] - Emmy Award-winning actor * [[Shecky Greene]] - Comedian * [[Isaac Guillory]] - Folk guitarist * [[Barbara Harris (actress)|Barbara Harris]] - Oscar-nominated actress * [[Sally Insul]] - Actor * [[M. Larry Lawrence]] - Hotelier and Ambassador to Switzerland * [[Ted Lechowicz]] - Illinois politician * [[Judith Lesnaw|Judith Leznaw]] - American virologist, medical researcher and academic * [[Eric Morris (actor)|Eric Morris]] - Actor, acting teacher * [[Chuck Nergard]] - Member of Florida House of Representatives * [[Akua Njeri]] - Activist and wife of [[Fred Hampton]] * [[Kim Novak]] - Actress * [[Ron Offen]] - Pulitzer Prize nominated poet, playwright, critic, and editor * [[Bill Page]] - Lawrence Welk band leader, entrepreneur * [[J.F. Powers]] - Novelist and short story author * [[Mike Royko]] - Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist * [[Al Schwartz (producer)]] - Emmy-nominated producer * [[Bernard Stone]] - Alderman, mayoral candidate * [[Lily Venson]] - Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist * [[Pudgy (comedian)|Beverly Wisniewski]] - Comedian

==Notable faculty== * [[Ed Badger]] - Head basketball coach - Coach of the Chicago Bulls from 1976 to 1978 * [[Katherine Whitney Curtis]] - Swimming instructor - Founder of synchronized swimming * [[Susan Fromberg Schaeffer]] - English instructor - National Book Award and O. Henry Prize nominated novelist and poet

==Miscellaneous== Wilbur Wright College is host to the Scholars at Wright program, a [[great books]] program funded by the [[National Endowment for the Humanities]]. Wilbur Wright College is host to the only ABA (American Bar Association)-approved Paralegal Studies Program at a public college in the City of Chicago.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://wright.ccc.edu/ Wright College Website] *[http://wright.ccc.edu/library Wright College Library homepage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019164757/http://wright.ccc.edu/library/ |date=2011-10-19 }} *[http://colib.ccc.edu/search~S7 Wright College Library catalog]{{Dead link|date=October 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }} *[http://scholarsatwright.org/ Scholars At Wright Website] *[https://www.facebook.com/StageWrightProductions Stage Wright Productions - Wright College Theater] *[http://www.wrightcalc.com/ Wright College Math Department app] *[http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=91a7ebbfb84db06d8fd89dc9e99aff67 3D Google Earth Model] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519121805/http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=91a7ebbfb84db06d8fd89dc9e99aff67 |date=2011-05-19 }}

[[Category:Wilbur Wright College| ]] [[Category:Universities and colleges established in 1934]] [[Category:Community colleges in Illinois]] [[Category:City Colleges of Chicago]] [[Category:1934 establishments in Illinois]] [[Category:Bertrand Goldberg buildings]] [[Category:Two-year colleges in the United States]]