Mark White

Mark White is married to Linda Gale Thompson, whom he met as a student of Baylor University, while pursuing his BBA. They have three children, Mark III, Andrew and Elizabeth.

White was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer at the age of 67. However, he has survived the disease with support from his doctor, family, friends and faith in religion.

Mark White was born on March 17, 1940 to Mark Wells Sr. and Sarah Elizabeth, in Henderson, Rusk County, Texas. His family moved from Henderson to Houston, shortly after his birth.

He attended several public schools and graduated from Lamar High School in 1958. He obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Baylor University four years later.

He then joined Baylor Law School and obtained Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1965. After being admitted to the State Bar of Texas, he practiced law privately and shortly afterwards, began his public service as assistant attorney general in the insurance, banking and securities division.

He served in the 36th Infantry Division of the Texas National Guard besides doing public service. In 1969, he practiced law with the firm Reynolds, Allen and Cook for four years.

In 1973, he was appointed the Secretary of State of Texas, under Governor Dolph Briscoe. He streamlined the legal operations and made the services more responsive to the public, during his tenure.

In 1977, he was elected president of the National Association of the Secretaries of State, the youngest ever to be in office. This was the association’s highest office - and White was also elected secretary and treasurer earlier.

He stood for elections for the State Attorney General and easily defeated his rival from the Republican Party. In 1979, White became the 46th Attorney General of Texas and co-chaired the Federal-State Law Enforcement Coordination Committee.

Besides being the Attorney General, he was a member of the Governor's Organized Crime Prevention Council. He was also elected the chairman of the Southern Conference of Attorney Generals in 1981, which was an appointment at national level.

One of the major contributions made by White as a Governor was in the field of education – he was able to raise the performance standards of Texas students in Scholastic Aptitude Tests. In 1984, he appointed a committee on public education, passed the Education Opportunity Act, and also raised teachers’ salaries to improve quality.

White played a prominent role in preserving the Big 12 Conference of 2010, along with other prominent Texans, imploring all Big 12 schools to cooperate towards positive changes. The Big 12 Conference, an athletic conference of ten colleges, competing in football games, had begun to crumble after differences broke out among members.