Wayne Wright, Chairman & Executive Director

wayne_wright Dr. Wayne Wright has served as our Executive Director and Chairman of Mission Vietnam since 1996.

Dr. Wright has a long and distinguished record of private, non-profit, and civic service that has distinguished him as a highly capable leader and uniquely qualified to lead our organization. After graduating from Oregon Health Sciences University medical school in 1970, Dr. Wright served in the U.S. Military from 1971 to 1975 as a physician achieving the rank of Major. He went on to complete his Internal Medicine residency and Cardiology Fellowship at the University of New Mexico Medical School - 1974-1976. He then entered private practice in the field of Cardiology with Southern Idaho Cardiology Associates, 1976-2004; presently retired.

Currently, under his leadership for more than a decade, Mission Vietnam has grown from a small ministry whose primary focus was on ministry to Vietnam veterans with works of benevolence to the people of Vietnam to one of the largest missionary works of its kind. Since 1996 Mission Vietnam has assisted the poorest of Vietnam's people by providing cardiac services, sight-restoring eye surgeries, and continuing general medical care. In addition to supporting established orphanages and paying for hundreds of Vietnamese children to receive a better education that would otherwise be beyond their reach, Dr. Wright has led Mission Vietnam in building schools for communities, homes for families in severe poverty, and churches for newly formed congregations. The government has even allowed Mission Vietnam the privilege of purchasing property and funding for the first and only church on Phu Quoc Island, the establishing of Mission Vietnam's own orphanage in the Khe Sanh area of the Central Highlands and sponsoring public crusades where thousands have been brought to Jesus Christ. In 2000 Dr. Wright, as Executive Director of Mission Vietnam, was given the "Gold Medal Award" by the Vietnamese government in recognition of outstanding contributions for the protection and care of children in Vietnam.

Dr. Wright's previous civic duties and awards include the following:

  • President, Magic Valley Memorial Hospital Staff 1981
  • President, Idaho Affiliate American Heart Association 1981-1982
  • Co-Chairman, Twin Falls Bill Glass Crusade 1983-1985
  • President, Idaho Family Forum (statewide family policy committee) 1993-1995
  • Member, National Assemblies of God Foreign Missions Board, Springfield, MO 1992-1995
  • Member, Blue Cross of Idaho Board of Directors 1992-2001
  • Idaho State Planning Grant, Steering Committee 2002-2004
  • Member, Board of Directors, Northwest College Foundation, Everett, Washington 1998-2005
  • Member, Board of Directors, Twin Falls Salvation Army 1990-2006
  • Idaho Honoree for Achievements in Cardiology, American Heart Association 2007

Current civic duties include the following:

  • Member, Board of Directors, Roever Evangelistic Association, Fort Worth, Texas 1998-Present
  • Executive Director and Chairman, Mission Vietnam 1996-Present
  • Commissioner, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, 2004-Present
  • Chairman, Idaho Department of Fish and Game Commission, 2009-Present
  • Member, Board of Directors, Lighthouse Christian Fellowship, 2009-Present

Currently Dr. Wright and his wife Joanne reside in Twin Falls, Idaho. They have been married 41 years and have 3 children and 5 grandchildren.

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