Commissioner Thomas E. Wright

Thomas E. Wright was appointed to the Kansas Corporation Commission by Governor Kathleen Sebelius on May 23, 2007. Wright was appointed for a second term by Governor Mark Parkinson on January 8, 2010.

Wright served as Chair of the Governor's Gaming Committee and of the Consolidation Commission of Topeka-Shawnee County in 2005. He was Chair of the Washburn Board of Regents from 1986 to 1988, beginning as a Board Member in 1982. Throughout his career, he has taught classes at Washburn University Law School and in the NITA program at Loyola Law School in Chicago. He has recently been named to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Committee on International Relations and Committee on Electricity.

He additionally serves as the Kansas delegate to the Eastern Interconnection States Planning Council and the Southwest Power Pool.

Wright was elected President of the Kansas Bar Association (KBA) beginning June of 2008. He was a member of the Board of Governors for the KBA from 1998 to 2005. He served on the KBA Committee on Prevention of Legal Malpractice and chaired the Legislative Committee. He was on the Civil Justice Reform Advisory Group of the Federal Court from 1992 to 1998 and the Federal Bench/Bar Committee from 1990 to 1998. Wright also served on the Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Committee from 1995 to 2003.

Wright, originally from Harper, Kansas, earned a degree in mathematics from Wichita State University in 1961. He graduated from Washburn University School of Law in 1964 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in German from Washburn University in 1979.

Wright and his wife, Carole, have two grown children and five grandchildren. They reside in Topeka.

Commissioner Wright's term will expire March 15, 2014.