Meet George White
Assistant Professor of International Business, University of Michigan–Flint
PHD in International Business, 2008
“ El Paso is very multi-cultural, and I thought
that was a perfect place for me to study international business.”
George White was the first to graduate from the PhD program in International
Business in May (2008) here at the University of Texas at El Paso. Dr. White is
an example to the CoBA students not only because of his great achievements, but
also for his humble and determined attitude.
After earning a BA from and studying as a graduate at the University of
Alabama, George received a Chinese Language Scholarship to study Mandarin
Chinese at Feng Chia University in Taiwan. There George also taught English as a
second language at night. After a while one of his employers wanted him to
permanently stay in Taiwan and sponsored him in applying for a permanent
residency card. In order to do this, George had to leave the country and decided
to go to the Philippines with one of his friends whom owned a textile
manufacturing plant in Manila. While he was there he met his wife, Arceli.
After getting married and living in the Philippines for several months, he
decided to come back to the U.S and applied to take the LSAT (which is the
entrance exam for law school). He subsequently received a JD, a doctorate in
law, with a concentration in international law from Thomas M. Cooley Law School
in Michigan. While in Michigan, he published several articles in international
law journals such as Texas International Law Journal and the North Carolina
Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation.
After that, he obtained an internship in Washington D.C. at the U.S. Agency
for International Development (USAID) where he assisted in drafting
international commerce policy instruments such as micro-finance initiatives for
poor women and single mothers in India. After deciding that one law degree was
not enough, he moved to Atlanta to pursue a second law degree, an LLM (an
advanced law degree) in international commercial law), at Emory University.
Although he had obtained a well-rounded education, George felt that his “book
on Asia was not yet closed.” He sent his resume out to various institutions and
was offered a visiting professorship teaching International commercial law and
globalization classes at a major university (Hebei normal University) just south
of Beijing. He also helped the university internationalize their academic
programs. While he was in China, a friend of his (performing research on China),
Robert Bejesky, encouraged him to pursue a PhD in international business. He
said he had not considered it yet, but he looked around and saw that UTEP had
just started its international Ph.D. program. George decided to apply and was
very excited to be accepted into the program.
George has received several recognitions for his work, yet he believes that
his greatest accomplishment is receiving his PhD because it is a research degree
that requires hard work and perseverance. As he describes it, “there is a
faculty—your doctoral committee—that determines if you are worthy or not of
defending your dissertation and ultimately receiving your Ph.D. When they think
that you prepared then they will allow you to move through the process.” George
has received other recognition as well. When he left China, Hebei Normal
University honored him by naming him as an Honorary Professor of Global
Commerce. While at UTEP George also received several research awards as well as
travel grants and scholarships, earned an MBA, and has published in
international business journals such as International Business Review and the
International Journal of Conflict Management.
However, in every road to success there are obstacles along the way; George
confessed that his greatest obstacle along the way has been himself. He told us
that the people that he worked with would possibly describe him as a stubborn
person since he had a “go it alone” type of mentality. He claims that his
biggest flaw is not being able to listen to others, but he is working hard to
improve it. As he said, “when you go through life and people always tell you
that you cannot do something, eventually you learn to block people out.”
Although George has been working hard to reach his goals, he also finds time
within his busy schedule to be an active member of the community. He has been
part of the organizations such as the Academy of International Business and
Academy of Management. He knows that being a member of an organization
proves to be truly beneficial, stating “I highly encourage my students to get
involved with organizations that interest them because they can develop networks
and connections which can lead to future job opportunities and long-lasting
relationships.”
Right now George is moving to the School of Management at the University of
Michigan-Flint where he will be an Assistant Professor of International
Business. At the University of Michigan-Flint, he will teach an MBA course
entitled “Managing in a Global Environment” and undergraduate courses in
international business and international management. He also plans to continue
performing research and writing on how regulations and laws impact multinational
enterprise strategies in emerging markets. He also looks forward to playing an
active role in a new Global MBA program the School is currently developing.
Congratulations and good luck George. We wish you the best!
