John R. White Interview: June 1-2, 2009; ACM Headquarters, New York, NY
Arthur L. Norberg, John Robert White · 2006
For convenience, the John R. White interview is divided into eight parts, reflecting the major parts of his professional life.Constructed to contain largely independent topics, at times a subject comes up in two or more divisions, where it contributes added information in a new setting each time.White begins his interview with an accounting of his early life and the circumstances that led to his family's moving from his birthplace Kansas City, MO, to Los Angeles, CA, where he was educated in elementary school and high school.White describes how he chose UC Santa Barbara for his undergraduate education, and who and what influenced his joining the ranks of computer people in a field just beginning its first expansion.Describing his undergraduate training in EE and CS, he describes a set of serendipitous events that confirmed his choice to do graduate work in computer science at UC Santa Barbara.He became interested in programming and systems and software.The main thrust in his doctoral work was to build a compiler writing system the right way, that is, in terms of the semantic and syntactic sides, specifying what a language is.While the syntactic side was rather well known at that time, the semantic side was a bit more haphazard.After completing his Ph.D. program, he joined the faculty at the University of Connecticut.There he published, alone and with colleagues, well-thought out papers on linkers and loaders, a tool for enforcing system structure, and an engineering approach to software design.In 1981, White moved to Palo Alto, CA, on a sabbatical, but did not return to University of Connecticut.Instead, he obtained a position at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC).He participated in the heady atmosphere of the center.He describes the management structure and accomplishments of the center and his many roles in this structure.He adds much information about the inner workings of the center.White details his involvement with and contributions to ACM both in specific instances and as an overview of ACM's change from old practices in managing program and funding areas to a range of new practices that emphasized the new age of computer science of the 1990s and later of the 2000s.The ACM Digital Library is a good example of the association's approach to the new era.But other topics span both periods, such as the place of SIGs in the governing and funding of the ACM.His involvement in ACM activities illustrate the excellent management skills he honed at Xerox PARC.White served on the Council in many capacities: Regional Representative, Board chair, Advisor, Member, Vice President, President, and Past President.White's service and his work with other volunteers enhanced ACM's structure, initiatives, and standing with members.He describes his interactions with many volunteers and ACM headquarters staff.