The Warren N. White Jr. papers were generated during Dr. White’s career at K-State. The collection concerns Dr. White’s models, robots, and Kansas Electric Utilities (KEURP) research, as well as materials for the courses he taught. The work largely focuses on electrical engineering and robotics, although it contains some correspondence as well. Notably, there are records of his Galloping Line research from the 1980’s, his work on the General Electric P-50 Robo, and his collaborative work involving ball & beam and pendulum research. Approximate years covered by the records are 1977-2010.
Warren Nichols White, Jr. was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on November 12, 1952. Finishing his secondary education at St. Paul’s High School in Covington, Louisiana, he pursued a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering with honors in Electrical Engineering at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. In the summer of 1974, he began working for General Electric in Schenectady, New York.
White later transferred to GE’s Power Transformer Division in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. While working in Pittsfield, White commuted to Troy, New York, to earn a Master of Engineering degree in Electric Power Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1977. While working on his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Tulane, he met his future wife, Georganne Wilcox and married on May 4, 1980.
In 1985 White and family traveled north to Manhattan, Kansas, where he began teaching at Kansas State University. Over the years he taught Digital Controls, Finite Elements, and Dynamics among other subjects and developed a course in circuits specialty for Mechanical Engineers. He served as advisor for Women in Engineering, the Wildcat Wind Power Team and Final Frontier Aerospace Systems and Technology (FFAERO). He was inducted into Tau Beta Pi, a national honorary society for Engineering.
Warren Nichols White, Jr., 68, died on Monday, May 24, 2021.