In celebration of their accomplishments in their respective fields and their service and support of the university, Cal State Fullerton is recognizing five Distinguished Alumni on Feb. 28 as the 2026 CSUF Vision & Visionaries Award recipients.
Gregory Wright chose Cal State Fullerton over other local college options because he believed the education and one-on-one access to professors would give him a better chance at success.
Wright earned his bachelor’s degree in biology in 2000 and his master’s degree in biological science, physiology and chemistry in 2008 and now serves as the senior vice president of research and development for Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences, where he has helped develop several patented surgical tissues and heart valves.
Additionally, Wright serves on the Dean’s Philanthropic Board for the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at CSUF, as well as the university’s ECS Innovation Hub Campaign Cabinet. He also helped establish the CSUF Engineering Mentorship Program, a partnership between Edwards and Titan engineering students.
In recognition of his work in the field of medical technology, along with his commitment to supporting CSUF and the next generation of CSUF engineers and scientists, Wright has been named a 2026 CSUF Vision & Visionaries Distinguished Alumni award winner.
A Southern California native, Wright grew up in Diamond Bar and attended Mt. San Antonio College before transferring to CSUF. He chose to major in biology and initially planned to attend dental school.
But in conversations with one of his professors, the late C. Eugene “Gene” Jones, CSUF professor emeritus of biological science, Jones recognized Wright’s interest in research and suggested he consider a career in the pharmaceutical or medical device industry.
“A year after the conversation I had with Dr. Jones, I decided that what I really enjoyed was research, and that’s what I wanted to do,” Wright said.
Wright’s first position in the field before completing his bachelor’s degree was with St. Jude Medical (now Abbott Laboratories). He worked there as a scientist until 2005, when he joined Edwards as a senior scientist, focusing on developing next-generation tissue for heart valves.
Over the past 20 years, Wright has co-invented several technologies related to surgical heart valves, working with his team to develop new ideas aimed at improving valve durability through advanced tissue technologies.
That work led to what is now considered the world’s leading tissue technology, RESILIA
, as well as the KONECT RESILIA aortic valve conduit. For the past three years, Wright has served as senior vice president of research and development in Edwards’ surgical structural heart business unit.
Early in his time at Edwards, Wright developed a thesis idea on calcification kinetics and returned to CSUF for his master’s degree, with Jones as his adviser and mentor.
“Dr. Jones was a fantastic mentor because he had compassion, he had the ability to challenge me and he empowered me,” Wright said. “Those are the skills I took away from Fullerton that were invaluable to my success.”
Wright also credits CSUF’s rigorous academic programs for training him to make data-driven decisions and teaching him scientific writing, skills that are crucial for his interface with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“The rigor that I went through in writing my thesis and getting feedback and spending a lot of long nights and a lot of time with my advisers to write the best technical document I could was a tremendous learning experience for me,” Wright said.
For the past several years, Wright has given back to his alma mater by serving on the Dean’s Philanthropic Board for the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and the ECS Innovation Hub Campaign Cabinet.
“It’s a great opportunity to help the dean shape ways that the college can get better at not just fundraising for the college to be able to provide for the students and the faculty, but also to think about what gaps the educational system has today that are needed moving forward,” Wright said.
Wright also was instrumental in establishing the CSUF Engineering Mentorship Program, which provides engineering students with opportunities to complete their senior projects with Edwards. The 10-year partnership has led to a number of career opportunities at Edwards for graduates.
“It’s been a program that is also very important to me because it is an opportunity for these students to be mentored and to see what it’s like to work in industry,” Wright said.
In addition to his work at CSUF, Wright gives back to the community through his service on the board of directors for Goodwill of Orange County, a position he has held since 2021.
Humbled by the Vision & Visionaries Award selection, Wright said he is proud to be part of an institution that focuses on the community and uses higher education as a pathway to make society a better place, not just for Orange County, but for the world.
“I think the thing about being a Titan is the respect that we have for each other,” Wright said. “Titans are really a family. We support each other, we support our community and we support our students. You can’t graduate from Cal State Fullerton without feeling all that, and I’ve always felt that.”