[1] Bright earned a bachelor's degree in linguistics in 1949 and a doctorate in the same field in 1955, both from the University of California, Berkeley.
He then moved to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he remained on the faculty until his death.
[2] He was made an honorary member of the Karuk tribe—the first outsider to be so honored—in recognition of his efforts to document and preserve their language which led to its revival.
Bright was also known for his research on the Native American languages Nahuatl, Kaqchikel, Luiseño, Ute, Wishram, and Yurok, and the South Asian languages Lushai, Kannada, Tamil, and Tulu.
Of particular note are his toponymic contributions to knowledge about Native American place-names and their linguistic importance for tribes and California bands.