[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 20, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4480-S4481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO DR. TIMOTHY WHITE

 Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I am honored to recognize the close 
to 4 years of dedicated service and leadership provided by Dr. Timothy 
White, outgoing president of the University of Idaho. Son of immigrants 
from Argentina to Canada and then to the United States, Dr. White is a 
first-generation college graduate. He earned his Ph.D. from the 
University of California, Berkeley, and is known internationally for 
his work in kinesiology, gerontology and human biodynamics, working in 
those fields at the University of Michigan and at Berkeley. Before 
coming to Idaho in August 2004, Dr. White served as provost and 
executive vice president at Oregon State University and as interim 
president.
  Dr. White put his vision of excellence in research, math and science 
into practice at the University of Idaho. Indeed, he shares my strong 
belief in the critical importance of math and science to education, 
from primary school to graduate degree programs. In a recent guest 
editorial, Dr. White stated: ``Idaho will prosper in the global economy 
if our work force is better prepared in the areas of math, science, 
technology and engineering Critical-thinking and reasoning abilities--
cornerstones of an educated citizenry and work force--are also 
dramatically aided by strong math and science skills.'' And Dr. White 
put ideas into action, overseeing critical programs that bridge the gap 
between middle and high school teachers and students and the 
University. While serving as president, Dr. White oversaw both the 
Gateway to Mathematics Program, which provides middle school teachers 
the chance to improve math teaching skills through interactive distance 
technology, and the Gateway to Calculus Program, which offers rural 
high school students an opportunity to learn calculus online when their 
particular school cannot offer such courses. He also oversaw the 
innovative and nationally acclaimed Polya Mathematics Learning Center 
at the University which helps undergraduate students master entry-level 
mathematics in an interactive and creative way, using both advanced 
technology and teaching staff to help students of varied learning 
styles overcome aversions to math.
  Dr. White's influence reached beyond math and science programs and 
initiatives. He created the Plan for Renewal of People, Programs and 
Place, based on the report of a task force he established to reinforce 
and enhance the university's academic and institutional excellence in 
today's world. The plan centered the University's resource allocation 
and mission, vision, and values around five key academic areas: science 
and technology, liberal arts and sciences, entrepreneurial innovation, 
the environment, and sustainable design and lifestyle. He saw the 
university engage in programs such as Operation Education Scholarship, 
Water of the West, Building Sustainable Communities, Bioregional 
Planning and Community Design and Biological Applications of 
Nanotechnology. During his term as president, the University of Idaho 
has been involved in many public-private partnerships with science and 
technology across the State, particularly in agriculture research. In 
2006, the university opened an aquaculture biotechnology laboratory at 
its Hagerman fish culture experiment station, and University scientists 
now conduct cutting edge small grains germplasm research together with 
USDA Agriculture Research Service staff at a new addition to the ARS 
Aberdeen research facility, also opened in 2006. Under the direction of 
Dr. White, the University of Idaho continued its efforts to open a 
critical agriculture research endeavor the Idaho Center for Livestock 
and Environmental Studies that will serve as an environmental research 
center for dairy and livestock and operate as a self-sustaining animal 
feeding operation. And agriculture is not the only science and 
technology partnership the university has pursued under Dr. White's 
leadership: it is a partner with the Idaho National Lab in a 
multiuniversity public-private research and development endeavor in 
Idaho Falls called the Center for Advanced Energy Studies.
  Dr. White has worked diligently over the past 4 years to adapt the 
University of Idaho to our changing world,

[[Page S4481]]

meeting students' educational needs and keeping the university on the 
cutting edge of innovative education, research, and academic 
excellence. I wish Tim and his wife Karen all the best as they move to 
southern California and he assumes the chancellorship of University of 
California, Riverside, this fall.

                          ____________________