College of Business: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

B. Joseph White

President Emeritus of the University of Illinois and
James F. Towey Professor of Business and Leadership

Biographical Sketch

B. Joseph White is James F. Towey Professor of Business and Leadership at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and President Emeritus of the University of Illinois. He focuses on corporate governance, leadership and management.

White was president of the University of Illinois from January 2005 through December 2009. He is Dean Emeritus of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and Professor Emeritus of Business Administration of the University of Michigan where he also served as Interim President and Wilbur K. Pierpont Collegiate Professor of Leadership in Management Education.

White has private-sector executive experience, including six years as an officer of Cummins, Inc., a diesel engine and power systems manufacturer, and a year helping rebuild Fred Alger Management Co., an asset management firm devastated by 9/11. He is a director or trustee of several companies and has served on the boards of many non-profit organizations.

White earned his bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1969 and an MBA, with distinction, from Harvard University in 1971. He earned his doctorate in business administration in 1975 at the University of Michigan.

White has written, taught and spoken extensively on leadership, management, human capital and higher education reform. He is the author of The Nature of Leadership (New York: Amacom, 2007).

White was honored with the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award from the Illinois Commission on Diversity and Human Relations in 2007, the Leadership Award from the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation in 2005 and an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Wabash College in 2003. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Beta Gamma Sigma honorary fraternities.