Dr. White at the foothills of Mt. Rushmore

Parents. Illinois dirt farmer, John R. White (deceased), and his wife Frances McCormick White (1915-), gave birth to their first of five children, John Michael White, in November of 1938. A retired school teacher, Mrs. White is now teaching Sunday Bible school and English as a Second Language, as well as volunteering her time at a battered woman's shelter in her town of residence, Danville, IL.

Siblings. Dr. White is the oldest of five children in the White family; he has two younger brothers and two younger sisters.

Marriage. Gwen Combest became Dr. White's bride on September 3, 1960 in a wedding in Ransom, Kansas.

Children. Mark, married to Melissa, is the oldest of Dr. White's three children. His daughter, Rae Anne Landrum, and Todd Landrum have a daughter Melody Ann, and a son, Carter Lee--Dr. White's grandchildren. Dr. White's youngest, Paul, graduated from Westwood High School (1998) and continued to Harding University, Searcy, Arkansas.

As a member and elder of Brentwood Oaks Church of Christ (Austin, TX), another point of focus for Dr. White is his faith. He also serves on the Board of Trustees at the Institute for Christian Studies (Austin, TX), and is a member of the faculty and staff of Christian Fellowship.

John M. White was born in Danville, Illinois on November 26, 1938. He received his Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Harding College in 1960 and his Masters in Science in 1962, also from Harding. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1966, then joined the chemistry faculty at the University of Texas at Austin as assistant professor. He was named associate professor in 1970 and full professor in 1976. From 1979 to 1984, he served as chairman of the department, and he held the Norman Hackerman Professorship in Chemistry from 1985 til 2000. Since 1991, he has directed the NSF-supported Science and Technology Center for Synthesis, Growth, and Analysis of Electronic Materials at the University of Texas. In 2001, White was awarded the Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry. Since 1976, he has been a visiting staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratories. He has also served as a program officer at the National Science Foundation in 1978-79 and was a summer guest worker at the National Bureau of Standards during the same period. He and his students have enjoyed long-term interactions with Sandia National Laboratory. He is actively working on problems in surface chemistry, the dynamics of surface reactions, and photoassisted surface reactions. Honors and Awards

• Distinguished Alumnus Award, Harding University (1985)
• Creativity Award, National Science Foundation (1982-85)
• Outstanding Alumni Award of Alpha Chi (1986)
• Humboldt Senior Scientist Award (1989)
• ACS Kendall Award (1990)
• Guiseppe Paravanno Award, Michigan Catalysis Society (1993)
• Holloway Teaching Excellence Award (1998)
• Alpha Lambda Delta Outstanding Faculty Member Award (1998)
• Career Research Excellence Award -- UT Austin (1999)
• Southwest Regional ACS Award 1999)
• The Arthur W. Adamson Award for Distinguished Services in the Advancement of Surface Chemistry (2001)