I was born in 1952 at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Aurora, Colorado, a small town just outside Denver.  At the time, just after the Korean War, my Dad (Adam C. White born in Natchez, Mississippi) was in the Air Force having graduated from the US Naval Academy.  My Mom (Dorothy M. Lancaster born in Parsons, Kansas) and Dad left the Aurora area and moved finally to Arlington, Virginia where my brother (Jonathan C. White) was born in 1954 at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C.  After Dad decided to leave the military we moved to New Orleans, (where he had spent most of his years growing up) to attend Tulane University for a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering.  We lived in the house where his mother and father were living hardly 3 blocks from the campus.  I attended Audubon Elementary School for kindergarten.

In 1959 we moved to Silver Springs, Maryland because my Dad was to begin working at NSA (National Security Agency) in Laurel. The family became a charter member in Northwood Presbyterian Church, that Dad had us active in for many years.  I entered the first grade at Four Corners Elementary School located within an easy walk from a rented house on Kinross St.  The next year when we moved into a permanent home on Markham St.  Here, the family lived until Jon and I went off to college years later.

It was a great neighborhood with a lot of kids of my age and all of the conveniences of suburban living within walking distance of the house.  I have fond memories of playing baseball in our side yard, playing pickup football down the street on a vacant lot, and even playing madeup kid games in front of the house on the street.  Jon and I spent long hours with tennis rackets or footballs or baseballs playing on that relatively quiet street.  I also have special memories of my own menagerie in the side yard, and dear memories of a great old, large weeping willow tree where in and about many hours were spent.  In the greater neighborhood, initially within biking distance, I discovered places to hunt for critters and to fish.  When I was eligible to drive, my world of these places expanded to within a reasonable driving distance of home.  The family would travel on two- week vacations during the summer, at times making the long drive to New Orleans to visit my Dads family, and an Aunt/Uncle who had dear first cousins, sons of his sisters.

My Mom was ill most of my life, which I only gained some understanding of very much later in life.  I went to the local Sligo Creek Junior High School via bus or a longish walk, and then to Northwood High School about a mile from home.  I didn’t play any organized team sports, but did enjoy playing tennis and going on outings with many different male friends.  (I didn’t have any close female friends.)  I thoroughly became engrossed in a woodworking class while in High School, and actually won the award for the best student in the class my senior year.  One of the larger projects I undertook was to build a rowboat which I used in local lakes and rivers.

I went off to Lynchburg College in the Fall of 1970.  The campus is located about 4 hours from home in the eastern foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.  It was a great, but initially a bit scary, growing experience for me.  With some sadness, the next year I left Lynchburg and began attending Tulane University.   The following year (1972) Jon joined me at Tulane, he living in the dorm and me living with my grandmother in that same house on Walnut St. my Dad grew up in located close to campus.  I don’t remember exactly when, but sometime after Jon arrived, Mom and Dad separated and then divorced.   Mom ended up dying in 1977.  Certainly, this was a particularly difficult period for the family and me.

I earned a B.S. from Tulane University in 1974, and then stayed for my Masters (1976) and Ph.D. in 1979; all were in the discipline of Biology, but with different areas of specialization.  Jon earned a B.S. in Mathematics in 1976 with a scholarship from the Navy ROTC.  After he graduated he was off on duty as a commissioned officer in the US Marine Corps.  I stayed in the same house on Walnut St. until 1980, at which time I moved to a very small apartment about a mile away.

Tulane continued to be my home for 4 years after graduation as a part-time instructor.  In 1983, I earned a job offer at Loyola University on a tenure-tract as an assistant professor.  The campus is immeditately adjacent to the Tulane campus.  I am still at Loyola having made a successful career out of teaching and research.

Within a couple of years after Mom died, Dad remarried (Karen from Maryland), and they currently reside in Culpeper, Virginia.  They had one child, Adam who (in 2002) is working his way towards a college degree.  Jon married (Lois from Iowa) after some years of leading the military life and currently resides in Annapolis, Maryland raising 9 children!  It’s with some regret that I have never married, but I have created a rich life for myself, and one that some might be envious of. 
 

I close this brief biographical sketch with a picture of Gumbo, the 'blue heeler' who is a devoted companion.  She has a difficult time dealing with the hot, humid summers of New Orleans, but during the remainder of the year enjoys life even more!  Do come visit us both - New Orleans is a great and fun city!  Learn about neutral grounds, nutria, jambalaya, etouffe, krewes, the faubourg, and po-boys.  We can take you into spectacular wetlands that are as special as any place I've ever visited.