Wright was appointed associated dean and head of the Cancer Chemotherapy Department at New York Medical College in 1967, apparently the highest ranked African American physician at a prominent medical college at the time, and certainly the highest ranked African American woman physician.[1] She was appointed to the National Cancer Advisory Board (also known as the National Cancer Advisory Council) by US President Lyndon Johnson, serving from 1966 to 1970.[7][11] and the President's Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke (1964–65).[11] Wright was also internationally active, leading delegations of oncologists to China and the Soviet Union, and countries in Africa and Eastern Europe.[7] She worked in Ghana in 1957 and in Kenya in 1961, treating cancer patients.[3] From 1973 to 1984 she served as vice president of the African Research and Medical Foundation.[2]