William B. “Will” White has been a member of the KWI Board since the its formation, and has served as the Vice President for Research and is the Executive Vice President. Will holds a B.S. degree (Chemistry) from Juniata College and a Ph.D. (Geochemistry) from Penn State. Will’s research interest span a range of topics in materials science and geoscience. The former includes crystal chemistry, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, structure and properties of glass, and phosphors and other optical materials. The geosciences include application of condensed matter physics to mineralogy and various environmental issues including nuclear waste and mine land remediation as well as, of course, problems dealing with caves and karst. Cave and karst research includes both field and laboratory investigations with field work mostly in the Appalachians and the Mammoth Cave area. Will has published more than 400 papers in the technical journals and is author or coauthor of 17 books. He is a fellow of the AAAS, the Mineralogical Society of America and the NSS. Will spent 40 years on the Penn State faculty (1962-2002) and has been emeritus professor since his retirement.
