John A. White

The North Central Association of Colleges and Universities called the decade of the author's leadership of the University of Arkansas transformational, noting significant improvements occurred in all dimensions of the university. During his 6-year service as Georgia Tech's engineering dean, the college advanced from being ranked 11th to being ranked 3rd by U.S. News & World Report. SysteCon, an engineering consulting firm he co-founded, changed the way material handling systems were designed for manufacturing and distribution from experience-based to requirements-driven by employing computer-based design and analysis algorithms. White's leadership of NSF's Engineering Directorate resulted in his receipt of its Distinguished Service Award. His leadership experience includes membership on boards of directors for Eastman Chemical Company, J. B. Hunt Transport Services, Logility, Motorola, Motorola Solutions, and Russell Corporation, as well as leading the American Association of Engineering Societies, Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, National GEM Consortium, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Foundation, Council of Presidents of the Southeastern Universities Research Association, and Southeastern Conference, among others. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, the author's bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees are from the University of Arkansas, Virginia Tech, and The Ohio State University, respectively. He holds honorary doctorates from George Washington University and Katholieke Universitiet of Leuven in Belgium.