Gary White

Dr. Gary White currently works as an adjunct professor at The George Washington University and serves as the Advisor for their Society of Physics Students chapter. He earned his B.S. in Physics summa cum laude at Northeast Louisiana University and his Ph.D. in Physics at Texas A & M University. His passion for physics extends past the classroom, displayed by his membership in multiple organizations, including American Physical Society (APS), American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), Mathematics Association of America, and the Society of Physics Students (SPS). In 1999, Dr. White was elected President of the Executive Council for SPS and in 2009, was awarded the 2009 Distinguished Service Award by AAPT. Dr. White also served as Director of SPS from 2001-2012. He has also contributed to an array of publications, including works in the American Journal of Physics and in The Physics Teacher. Dr. White currently also serves as the editor for The Physics Teacher.

Outside of his accomplished resume of lectures, publications, and awards, Dr. White is known for more than just his passion for science and mathematics. His students emphasize the impact he leaves on their careers in physics, both academically and within extracurricular activities. He has been described as an advisor that “pushes [SPS’s] ideas to the next level” and allows the students to take initiative when it comes to planning and carrying out events. What separates Dr. White from other SPS advisors and professors his students have had is his willingness to fully devote his time and energy to them. He has done this so much so that the term “brown bag lunch” was coined to refer to the lunchtimes Dr. White sets aside solely to allow his students to speak freely “about physics and future events”. These are many of the reasons as to why Dr. White is described as an “indispensable” and “core piece of the department infrastructure” for those he interacts with at The George Washington University.