John White

Robert and Renee Belfer Lecturer in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School
Office Address
Littauer-246
Mailing Address
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Mailbox 58
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Contact
Phone: 617-496-0542
Fax: 617-496-0819
Email: John_White@harvard.edu
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Profile

John P. White is the Robert and Renee Belfer Lecturer in Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1995 to 1997, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget from 1978 to 1981, Assistant Secretary of Defense, Manpower, Reserve Affairs and Logistics from 1977 to 1978, and as a lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps from 1959 to 1961. He has twice been awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. Prior to his most recent government service, Dr. White was the Director of the Center for Business and Government at Harvard University and the chairman of the Commission on Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces. His extensive private-sector experience includes service as Chairman and CEO of Interactive Systems Corporation from 1981 to 1988 and, following its sale to the Eastman Kodak Company in 1988, as General Manager of the Integration and Systems Products Division and as a Vice President of Kodak until 1992. In nine years with The RAND Corporation, he was the Senior Vice President for National Security Research Programs and a member of the Board of Trustees. He is also a Senior Fellow at The RAND Corporation and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a Trustee of the Committee for Economic Development. He serves as a director of L-3 Communications Corporation, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), and the Concord Coalition, as well as a Trustee Emeritus of the Institute for Defense Analyses. He was the team leader of the Obama transition team for the Department of Defense. Dr. White holds a BS degree from Cornell University and a MA and Ph.D. in economics from the Maxwell Graduate School, Syracuse University.

Media Expertise

John White welcomes media inquiries on the following subjects:

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Research

For a complete list of faculty citations from 2001 - present, please visit the Harvard Kennedy School Research Report Online.

Selected Publication Citations:

  • Research Papers/Reports
    • Allison, Graham, and John P. White. "Iraq 2010: An Alternative Future for Iraq." August 2001.