Sonny White of Midlands Tech
By John Temple Ligon
Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com

Dr. Sonny White Jr.

Dr. Marshall (Sonny) White Jr. became the fifth president of Midlands Technical College on April 1, 2006. A native of South Carolina, White recently served as executive vice president at Guilford Technical Community College near Greensboro.

White's additional experience in higher education includes serving as chair of the Clemson University College of Engineering and Sciences Advisory Board; service on the North Carolina State University Pulp and Paper Foundation Board; the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Services Board of Visitors; and as an adjunct professor at both the University of Georgia and Winthrop University.

White was born in Rock Hill, S.C., and grew up on a farm near the south edge of town with his parents and four brothers.

White attended grammar school in the Methodist church building across the street and also in the basement of the nearby National Guard Armory when the school burned down. He finished his eight grades at Oakdale Elementary, and worked afternoons and weekends while he attended Rock Hill High School.

White received a scholoarship and earned his first degree, a B.S. from Clemson in textiles chemistry. He graduated in 1965.

White went to work for Kingsport Eastman Chemical, who sent him to New York City to receive the public at Eastman's World's Fair exhibition in the summer and fall of 1964. While there, he met just about everybody involved with the fair, including Robert Moses of NYC, made famous in Robert Caro's "The Power Broker."

Part of the World's Fair was the first season for the Mets at Shea Stadium, where White saw the beleaguered Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers and their pitching great, Sandy Koufax. White returned to Kingsport in November to work until he entered the U.S. Army in January 1966.

The Army led him through training to become an officer in the Air Defense Artillery in West Germany. White mastered German as an undergraduate and learned a little Dutch while working on the Netherlands' missile sites and while being driven around by a Dutch driver.

By December 1967, White was back at Kingsport Eastman, but was getting antsy about graduate school. He was 24- years- old, and needed to pick from dental school, medical school, or graduate school in chemistry.

He took his wife Jo Ellen and his interest in polymers back to Clemson and earned his PhD in chemistry by 1972.

His graduate years at Clemson gainfully employed him in university housing. By the time he left Clemson in 1972, White was running all the men's housing on campus.

After Clemson, the couple, now with two children, spent five years in Charlotte while he worked for GAF, producer of building products, film, and chemicals. Later White worked in High Point, N.C. from 1982 until 1986 with Ciba- Geigy.

He went to Toms River, N.J., to run and close down a die stuffs plant on a slow schedule. White saw to it that 75% of the plant's employees relocated to other jobs.

White and his family came back to Greensboro in 1988, but they soon moved again to Connecticut. They came back to Greensboro in early 1992 for another five years.

Starting in 1997, White was at the top of Ciba Specialty Chemicals, traveling 70% of the time for his Basel, Switzerland- based company. He retired in 2001.

White took charge of Midlands Tech a little over a year ago. He is finishing his and Mrs. White's house this summer for her to move down from Greensboro and for their two grandchildren to visit.

White sees more and more South Carolinians moving into higher education. They have to. The job market is asking for 65% of its new hires to have post-high- school education. But in South Carolina, only about 30% have that. Midlands Technical College enrolls 15,000 credit students and provides continuing education training opportunities to more than 30,000 individuals annually. White has entered a growth market.