Mary Anne White

Mary Anne White (born December 28, 1953) is a Canadian materials scientist who is the Harry Shirreff (Emerita) Professor of Chemical Research at Dalhousie University. Her research considers novel solar thermal materials and their application in renewable energy devices. She is the author of a textbook titled Physical Properties of Materials. She was appointed an Officer to the Order of Canada in 2016.

Early life and education White was born in London, Ontario. As a child, she was encouraged to complete science experiments. She attended the University of Western Ontario for undergraduate studies in chemistry. Returning in 2011 to deliver the convocation address, White explained, “By the end of the first week at Western, I knew that I had found my place in life… I had met ‘my people’ and being back at Western always brings back that excitement,”. She was a research student at McMaster University, where she worked under the supervision of James A. Morrison. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oxford and the University of Waterloo. White developed novel thermal energy storage materials, specialising in areas such as materials that serve as efficient thermoelectrics and thermochromics, with low thermal expansion and the ability of phase-change materials to store heat. In 2010, White founded the Dalhousie Research in Energy, Advanced Materials and Sustainability (DREAMS) program.

White appeared on the CBC Radio show Maritime Noon, answering listener science questions. 1995 Elected Fellow, Chemical Institute of Canada 1996 Chemical Institute of Canada Noranda Award 2002 Elected as Fellow of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry 2002 Chemical Institute of Canada for Chemical Education Union Carbide Award 2004 APICS/Canpolar Science Communication Award 2008 McMaster University University Honorary Doctorate 2013 Elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada 2016 Appointed as Officer Order of Canada 2017 University of Ottawa Honorary Doctorate

Selected publications

Book

Articles

Personal life White is married to Robert L. White, a biological chemist at Dalhousie University, with whom she has two children.