Patrick Wright is the department chair, Thomas C. Vandiver Bicentennial Chair and professor of management at the University of South Carolina. He is also founder and former faculty director of the Center for Executive Succession in the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. He teaches, conducts research and consults in the area of strategic human resource management. In particular, his research focuses on how firms use people as a source of competitive advantage, the changing nature of the chief HR officer role and CEO succession processes. Each year he conducts a survey of Fortune 500 CHROs which gains insights on issues and challenges from the top of the HR house.