Sammis & Jean White
Sam White earned his Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania in 1971. In 1972, he accepted an Assistant Professorship at UWM as one of five founding members of the UWM Urban Planning Department. Granted tenure in 1975, he served as department Chair from 1977-1982. In 1982, he was appointed as Researcher at the UWM Urban Research Center; he directed this Center from 1985-1993. From 2003 until his retirement from UWM in 2016, Sam served as Director of the UWM Center for Workforce Development. He co-founded the Milwaukee Water Council. Sam dedicated himself to the success of Urban Planning students at UWM. He remains closely connected to, and widely admired and loved by, alumni of the program.
Sam’s wife, Jean, is also a trained urban planner, as well as a certified court administrator and a Manager at the former Arthur Young and Co. Sam and Jean raised three sons, and have remained committed to UWM and Milwaukee for decades. Their creation of the Professor Sam White Urban Planning Scholarship continues their legacy.
Impact
Professor Sam White occupies a unique position in the history of urban planning at UWM. Through highly skilled and rigorous teaching, insightful research, prolific publication, and devotion to community service, Sam’s impact will be felt in the urban planning profession and in Milwaukee for decades to come. He and his wife Jean created the Professor Sam White Urban Planning Scholarship to help future UWM students continue this important work for our communities.