Women - Hunterdon County, New Jersey

DORIS GNAUCK WHITE
Growing up on a farm in Granville, Wisconsin led Doris White to spend her life in the
agricultural research business. When she was nine years old, her mother, a teacher,
gave her a baby chick. That prepared her for later when her mother brought home 100
chicks and announced that they were Doris’ to raise. Dr. White says that she has “been
in chickens” ever since!
Due to the poor health of her father, and a series of childhood hardships, Doris
literally had to fend for herself when it came time for her to attend high school in
Wisconsin. Since Granville had no high school, Doris accepted an invitation to attend
Shorewood High School – eight miles away. Without transportation, she rode her
bicycle daily with her lunch stuffed into the bell of her French horn.
High school completed, Doris won one of the eight University of Wisconsin Regents
scholarships reserved for men. She completed college with honors in just two years
and eight months. Self-supporting, Doris worked at the University of Wisconsin Poultry
Experimental Farm on genetic lethals, vitamin deficiencies and di-ethylstibesterol (DES)
hormone.
Admitted to the University of Wisconsin Graduate School at the age of 19, she was
too young to teach science in the high schools of Wisconsin. She could, however, teach
in the U.S. Army Military Prison -- which she did under guard. Reaching the proper age,
she eventually did teach chemistry, biology, physics and math in high schools in
Wisconsin.
At the age of 22 she had been granted a M.S. degree and had completed all of her
research for a Ph.D. Continuing to be self-supporting, Doris worked for the University of
Wisconsin Hill Farm for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the field of genetic
resistance of wheat to wheat stem rust, barley smut, ergot of rye, and hessian fly larvae
damage to wheat. These resistance cereal grains are now commercial varieties.
While writing her thesis in horticulture for her Ph.D., she became seriously ill and
was hospitalized for a lengthy period. Upon returning to the field of academia, Doris
found that her assigned professor had retired – only to be replaced with a newly
graduated “Yaleie” who refused to accept her academic credits. After all, horticulture
was a man’s field!
At that point she started over in graduate school, this time in science education, with
a Ph.D. minor in entomology, and received a Ph.D. in 1956. Because of the ruling of
her professor, she now has two masters degrees and two Ph.D.’s.
Doris came east to Hunterdon when her former husband, a physicist, took a position
with Bell Labs in New Jersey. At that time she joined the faculty of William Paterson
College as an associate professor of mathematics and science. In three years she was
granted tenure and, a year later, was made a full professor at the age of 33. Currently
she is a senior faculty member at William Patterson.
Her four sons are all scientists. It must be in the genes! Dr. White’s early research
was in genetics, with a focus on improving field crops and livestock. More recently, she
has worked in the field of environmental problems. One of her projects is drought and
its devastating effects on people and market prices.
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