Alvin M. White
Harvey Mudd professor, humanistic mathematician  

Alvin M. White, emeritus professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, died at his home on June 2, 2009. 

Born in New York in 1925, Dr. White was a navy radio technician aboard a ship during World War II.  While in the midst of the Battle of Okinawa, he was sent to Officers’ Training at Columbia University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1949.  He then obtained a master’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and completed his PhD in mathematics from Stanford University in 1961. 

In 1962, Dr. White moved to Claremont and joined the faculty at Harvey Mudd College where he taught for over 35 years.

During this time, he was an active participant in the life of the colleges and town, frequently mentoring students from Harvey Mudd and other colleges and serving several terms as president of the Claremont chapter of Sigma Xi and of the local chapter of the American Association of University Professors as well as one term as co-president of the Faculty Senate. In addition, Dr. White helped create the joint chaplaincy at the colleges. 

A colleague of Dr. White referred to him as “the conscience of the mathematics department.”

While teaching traditional courses, Dr. White became increasingly and passionately interested in humanizing the teaching of mathematics.  He spent the majority of his career exploring, discussing and writing about creative, innovative and humanistic approaches to teaching and learning. 

In particular, he believed that mathematics is a language of the imagination, similar to literature and music.  A typical syllabus for one of his courses might focus on the philosophy of teaching, learning and creativity, quote well-known thinkers on the subject and recommend books such as Science and the Modern World and The Tao of Science in addition to the assigned mathematics text.

Dr. White believed it was important to focus on student-centered, cooperative learning, which encouraged students to create problems, form cooperative teams and explore and appreciate the philosophy, concepts and relationships behind the material being taught.  He demonstrated that doing so allowed the students to complete a very rigorous curriculum with less stress and a greater understanding of the material than using traditional teaching methods.

To further promote the development and dissemination of humanistic mathematics, Dr. White founded and edited the Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal, which published submissions from around the world and was distributed internationally.  He organized and participated in conferences at colleges and universities across the country and wrote, edited and contributed to a wide-ranging number of books and other publications exploring the field, including those written and edited by psychologist Carl Rodgers.

Dr. White received international recognition as a leading figure in creating and developing humanistic mathematics and the Humanistic Mathematics Network of over 2000 mathematicians worldwide.  He was awarded a Danforth fellowship to conduct seminars and research on the nature of learning and knowledge.  He was also awarded a 3-year grant from the Fund for Improvement of Post-secondary Education, which he used to develop an interdisciplinary program at the Claremont Colleges, bringing hundreds of distinguished scholars and other notables from around the country to speak, hold seminars and exchange ideas.

Beyond his academic career, Dr. White tutored inmates at the California Institution for Men in Chino (Chino Men’s Prison), arranged for college students to tutor Claremont High School students, read and recorded text books with Recording for the Blind (now Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic) and, in retirement, tutored El Roble Intermediate School students.

“He taught not only in his professional capacity, but as a father and grandfather and friend, and really by example,” said his son, Louis White. “You rarely saw him or heard him sitting down and specifically imparting a lesson of some sort. He taught by the way he lived his life, and he had a subtle but profound influence on people.”

Dr. White is survived by his wife of 62 years, Myra White of Claremont; his sons and daughters-in-law, Louis White and Susan Miller of Claremont and Michael and Auneea White of Arizona; his brother and sister-in-law, Wallace White of Venice, California and Shirley White of Laguna Niguel; and his grandchildren, Benjamin Millerwhite of San Francisco and Phoebe Millerwhite of Claremont who attends school in Newfoundland, Canada.

A memorial program will be held at Harvey Mudd College this fall.