VICKSBURG, Miss. - Dr. Peggy Brasfeild Wright, assistant director for Human Capital (ADHC) at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), was recently named the 2012 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Human Resources Professional of the Year for her role in supporting and promoting the goals of the USACE Human Capital Strategic Plan.
This award was established last year to annually recognize and reward outstanding employees committed to effective leadership and the advancement of human capital management. Wright is lauded for her role in preventing talent loss, shaping the workforce of the future and winning the war for talent that is essential to develop advanced innovative solutions to make the world safer and better.
As the ADHC for ERDC, Wright led the development and implementation of policies and procedures for HC enhancements within ERDC. Under her leadership, outreach efforts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) benefited more than 10,000 students and 615 teachers in four states in 2012. Additionally, she expanded the STEM funding base for ERDC in K-12 programs. Wright is also recognized for bringing student programs and intern opportunities under a single ERDC program that provides students and employers a diversity of mechanisms to fit each situation.
To help retain employees and prevent talent loss, Wright developed policies that addressed new employee integration, employee development and performance management. She has been instrumental in developing ERDC-wide leadership development training as well as leading the campaign for ERDC’s Employee Value Proposition (EVP), which describes the balance of the rewards and benefits that are received by employees in return for their best efforts in the workplace.
Prior to accepting the ADHC position, Wright served as the first director of the Army Corps of Engineers—Information Technology (ACE-IT), where she stood up the new organization that provides global IT support to more than 40,000 Corps employees and contractors stationed in more than 100 countries. The organization is headquartered in Vicksburg, Miss., and employs 1400 government and contract employees located in 55 offices across the United States. Wright also spent time as the leader of the USACE IM/IT Most Efficient Organization team and as the program manager for the Corps Enterprise Infrastructure Services (CEEIS) program.
Wright, a 25+-year veteran of the Corps, began her technical career as a co-op student in 1985. She received her bachelor’s in computer science from Mississippi College in 1986 and went on to earn a master’s in 1992 and a doctorate in 2000, both in computer science from Mississippi State University (MSU). She maintained a 4.0 throughout the course of her education.
Wright has participated in multiple Army-wide configuration boards and has served as the organizing chair of the CEEIS Configuration Control Board and as an adjunct professor to the Computer Science Department at MSU since 2000. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and a lifetime member of Phi Kappa Phi. She has given invited presentations at the Human Capital Management Defense conference, and under her direction, ERDC has received four human capital awards at the DoD level. Past awards for Wright include the Meritorious Civilian Service Award, the Superior Civilian Service Award and numerous Commander’s Awards, including two conferred by USACE commanding generals. She is also a recipient of the Vogel Award for the Scientist of the Year.
Wright, a Vicksburg, Miss., native, is active in community service and enjoys spending time with her two children, their spouses and her seven grandchildren.