Harrison White

Harrison White
Born	(1930-03-21)March 21, 1930 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Died	May 18, 2024(2024-05-18) (aged 94) Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Alma mater	Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton
Scientific career
Fields	Sociological theory Social network analysis Mathematical sociology
Institutions	University of Chicago Harvard University Columbia University Carnegie Mellon University
Doctoral advisor	John C. Slater (physics) Marion J. Levy Jr. (sociology)
Doctoral students	Edward Laumann, Michael Schwartz, Mark Granovetter, Peter Bearman, Ronald Breiger, Barry Wellman, Richard Lachmann, Christopher Winship, Ann Mische, Kathleen Carley

Harrison Colyar White (March 21, 1930 – May 18, 2024) was an American sociologist who was the Giddings Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. White played an influential role in the “Harvard Revolution” in social networks^[1] and the New York School of relational sociology.^[2] He is credited with the development of a number of mathematical models of social structure including vacancy chains and blockmodels. He has been a leader of a revolution in sociology that is still in process, using models of social structure that are based on patterns of relations instead of the attributes and attitudes of individuals.^[3]

Among social network researchers, White is widely respected. For instance, at the 1997 International Network of Social Network Analysis conference, the organizer held a special “White Tie” event, dedicated to White.^[4] Social network researcher Emmanuel Lazega refers to him as both “Copernicus and Galileo” because he invented both the vision and the tools.

The most comprehensive documentation of his theories can be found in the book Identity and Control, first published in 1992. A major rewrite of the book appeared in June 2008. In 2011, White received the W.E.B. DuBois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award from the American Sociological Association, which honors "scholars who have shown outstanding commitment to the profession of sociology and whose cumulative work has contributed in important ways to the advancement of the discipline."^[5] Before his retirement to live in Tucson, Arizona, White was interested in sociolinguistics and business strategy as well as sociology.