B. Joseph White
Bernard Joseph White is the current president of the University of Illinois.
Born in Detroit, Michigan on April 6, 1947, White was raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
White graduated magna cum laude from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1969. He holds an MBA degree from Harvard Business School, and a PhD from the University of Michigan.
Following college, White became an economics professor at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan. After serving as an officer with Cummins Engine Co. in Columbus, Indiana from 1981 to 1987, White returned to academia, quickly rising to become dean of the University of Michigan Business School in 1991 -- a position he served in for 10 years. From 2001 to 2002, he served as interim president of the University of Michigan.
White was officially named the 16th president of the University of Illinois in 2004 and took office on February 1 2005, succeeding retiring president James J. Stukel. He was officially inaugurated as president on September 22 2005.
White has also served as director or trustee of several companies, including Equity Residential, headquartered in Chicago; Gordon Food Service; Kaydon Corporation; and Kelly Services. He is a director of the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. He has chaired the boards of several large healthcare organizations, including the University of Michigan Health System; St. Joseph Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and the Catherine McAuley Health System. He is the author of The Nature of Leadership: Reptiles, Mammals, and the Challenge of Becoming a Great Leader, published by AMACOM Books.
He lives in Urbana, Illinois with his wife, Mary and dog, Webster. He has two adult children and four grandchildren.
Criticism
White has been criticized trememdously surrounding the removal of Chief Illiniwek from the University of Illinois in February of 2007. Many residents have accused him of creating a town and gown environment as a result. The News Gazette described him as extremely neutral to the point of cowardice, and wrote that it was ironic that someone who had published a book on the Nature of Leadership would appear so detached and indifferent.
In September of 2007 the Illinois Press Association presented their annual Worsties Awards to the most grevious violiators of the Freedom of Information Act. White, along with Chancellor Herman, and the U of I Board of Trustees (with emphasis on Chairman Robert Eppley), were all presented with a Worstie for their failure to facilitate information to the public regarding the removal of the Chief.
In September 2007, at least one member of the University's Student Senate also challenged White's willingness to surrender documents on administration activities.