Wright (I Am My Own Wife, Grey Gardens) will sub for department chair Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive, A Civil War Christmas), who is taking a semester-long leave of absence to complete work on a play commissioned by the Yale Repertory Theatre. Vogel is currently the Eugene O’Neill chair of the playwrighting department at Yale. Wright will lecture and assume responsibilities for students in Yale's weekly playwrighting workshop. In Vogel's absence Kenneth Prestininzi will serve as acting chair.

Wright earned a Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize for his 2003 play I Am My Own Wife. He earned a Tony nomination for his book to the 2006 musical Grey Gardens and also penned the book to Disney's The Little Mermaid and the play Quills. He most recently directed his adaptation of Strindberg's Creditors, which premiered at the Jolla Playhouse in September 2009. His screen credits include the Golden Globe-nominated film adaptation of "Quills."