John P. White

Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Experience

John P. White is the former Robert and Renée Belfer Lecturer at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has served as a lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy School since 1998.

Dr. White has held several senior federal government positions during his career, including U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1995–1997, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget from 1978–1981, and Assistant Secretary of Defense, Manpower, Reserve Affairs and Logistics from 1977–1978. Prior to his most recent government service, Dr. White was the Director of the Center for Business and Government at Harvard University and the chairman of the Commission on Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces.

Dr. White also has extensive private sector experience, having served as Chairman and CEO of Interactive Systems Corporation from 1981–1988 and, following its sale to the Eastman Kodak Company in 1988, as General Manager of the Integration and Systems Products Division and a Vice President of Kodak until 1992. Dr. White also spent nine years with The RAND Corporation where he was the Senior Vice President for National Security Research Programs and a member of the Board of Trustees. Dr. John White is currently a Senior Partner of Global Technology Partners, LLC, which specializes in private equity investments in technology, defense, aerospace and related businesses worldwide. He also is a Senior Fellow at The RAND Corporation and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He serves as a director of the Concord Coalition and Center for Excellence in Government. Dr. White received a B.S. from Cornell University and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the Maxwell Graduate School, Syracuse University.