White named dean of Arts and Sciences

Alan White, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics at North Dakota State University, has been named dean of the Harriot College of Arts and Sciences at East Carolina University, effective at the beginning of the fall semester.

White, a botanist who holds two degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is an experienced academic administrator and a prolific researcher. He joined NDSU as a member of the faculty in 1988, served as chair of the Department of Botany from 1997-2000 and has been dean since 2000.

At ECU, the College of Arts and Sciences is the largest academic unit, encompassing 15 departments and about 400 faculty members.

Provost James LeRoy Smith, announcing the appointment, praised White’s collaborative style, leadership ability and success in research. “He brings the skills and experience that we need,” Smith said. “He made a tremendous impression on faculty, administrators and students during two visits to Greenville. He has been where ECU needs to go as an institution in the next five years, and I am looking forward to working with him.”

White said, “East Carolina is an institution that is actively growing in a thoughtful way. It is an exciting and fun place to be, and it is the size and type of institution that will be a good fit for me.”

White, a native of North Carolina, received a B.S. degree in biology in 1977 and a Ph.D. in botany in 1981, both from UNC-Chapel Hill. Before joining NDSU, he was a faculty member at Marshall University in West Virginia.

He is the author of 37 refereed publications in books and scientific journals over the last 25 years, and his research grants have totaled more than $9 million.

He will succeed Keats Sparrow, who is stepping down after 15 years as dean.