David Sands Wright was born on December 7, 1847, in Hyland County, Ohio. His parents were both Quakers and his father was a Quaker preacher. He attended Squabble High School and there, as well as in other country schools he attended, he developed an interest in literature and debate. In 1866, he became a schoolteacher in Ohio. He later attended the National Normal University in Lebanon, Ohio, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1871 and master's degree in 1873. He received a second mater's degree from Penn College (Iowa) in 1887.

In 1872, Wright became the associate principal at Whittier College and Normal Institute in Salem Iowa, which was a Quaker academy. Wright was elected to the first faculty of the newly-organized Iowa State Normal School (now the University of Northern Iowa) in 1876. He taught UNI's first class on September 6, 1876. He was an English literature professor for five years before switching to mathematics in 1881. Wright married Eliza Jane Rawster on June 24, 1880.

Wright retired from the Department of Mathematics in 1916 to become UNI's Director of Religious Education. Wright began his association with the Iowa State Teachers Association in 1875 and was elected its president in 1904. He also contributed over 125 articles to Iowa Normal Monhtly, which was a professional magazine for teachers, as well as authoring several books. Among them were A Drill Book for English Grammar, Geometrical Outlines, and Bible Study Outlines, which was widely used across Iowa where Bible was taught in schools. In 1926, the State Board of Education presented Wright with a special award for his fifty years of service. That same year, Wright published an anecdotal history of the Iowa State Teachers College, Fifty Years at the Teachers College. He was known throughout the state for his sermons and lecture. Wright died on October 30, 1931.