by Scott Schrage | University Communication
Water came to define much of Jerome J. Wright’s life.
It shaped the sands of Omaha Beach, where he went ashore shortly after Allied forces took it on D-Day. As a hydrogeologist, it grounded much of his research and teaching. And its impending shortages occupied his thoughts even into retirement.
Wright’s daughter and grandson relayed memories of the late University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumnus during an April 26 celebration of the Bessey Hall lab that now bears his name.
Previously known as Room 214, the Jerome J. Wright and Alumni Computation and Visualization Laboratory now houses 20 industry-grade computer stations and multiple nods to prominent graduates from Nebraska’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.
“I thank you all so much for this beautiful, beautiful lab,” Wright’s daughter, Bunny Gardner, said to assembled faculty, students and alumni of the department. “My father would be so thrilled.”
Virginia Long Maples, Wright’s sister-in-law, bequeathed a substantial gift toward the lab’s completion to honor her brother-in-law. Wright was a Nebraska grad who earned a bachelor’s in geology in 1941 and, on returning from World War II, a master’s in 1947.
The nature of Wright’s work with the U.S. Geological Survey and as a faculty member at the University of Arizona makes the lab a fitting tribute, said Tracy Frank, chair and professor of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.
“His research focused on complex fluid flow through porous media, and today, that sort of work relies heavily on computational and visualization facilities like we have here today,” Frank said. “So our lab is aptly named.”