Francis (Frank) B. White was born November 8, 1915, in Manhattan, New York. He received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University in 1936, and in 1937 received an advanced Chemical Engineering degree from that university. After graduation, he began work as a process engineer at Foster Wheeler Corporation, an organization then based in New York City; he was promoted to Chief Chemical Engineer of the Industrial Division in 1949, and served in several more positions with the company before being appointed as manager of international operations for the U.S. branch’s Process Plants Division in 1966, a position he held for more than a decade. White was active in several professional and community organizations, including the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Princeton Engineering Association Executive Committee, and the Lions Club. He served as president of the American Oil Chemists Society from 1976-1977, and prior to that served as Treasurer (1974-1975) and Vice President (1975-1976). In 1982, he retired from chemical engineering and briefly worked in real estate before retiring to northwest Arkansas in 1983 with his wife, Mary. He passed away October 22, 1997.