White has been a Professor
of Chemistry at the University of Utah since 1993. Prior to that,
he was on faculty in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials
Science at the University of Minnesota. White received his Bachelor
of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina in
1978, where he was introduced to electroanalytical chemistry as an undergraduate
research assistant in Royce Murray’s lab. White obtained his Doctor
of Philosophy in Chemistry at the University of Texas in 1983, generating
photons with electrons (and vice versa) with Allen J Bard. He was
a Postdoctoral Associate with Mark S. Wrighton at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, where he was instrumental in developing molecule-based diodes
and transistors.
White’s research group
pioneered the study of electrodes of nanometer dimensions in the mid-1980s.
Their early studies were spurred by a curiosity about the nature of electron
transfer reactions when the electrode dimensions are comparable to that
of the redox molecule. This research led to White’s research interests
in the interaction of electrical fields with molecular transport and chemical
reactivity at nano- and micro-electrodes. White’s group is also widely
known for their seminal theoretical treatment of the influence of the electrical
potential distribution on the voltammetric response of electrodes coated
by redox-active monolayers.
White and his students
have been actively studying transdermal drug delivery for over a decade,
and they have made fundamental contributions to understanding the mechanism
of molecular transport across skin. They have also played a major
role in developing analytical methodologies employing the scanning electrochemical
microscope to study corrosion and membrane transport. Recent investigations
in his laboratory concerning magnetic field effects on electrochemical
reactions has led to the demonstration of miniaturized solution-based ion
focusing devices, including ion-beams and cyclotrons.
White has co-authored
~150 refereed journal articles and book chapters on many topics in electroanalytical
chemistry. He has received the Gilbert H. Ayres Award (1983, University
of Texas), the Shell Faculty Career Initiation Award (1985), the McKnight
Land-Grant Professorship (1987, The University of Minnesota), and the Office
of Naval Research Young Investigator Award in Chemistry (1987). He held
the Shell Chair of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University
of Minnesota prior to moving to Utah. He is an Associate Editor of the
Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry.
