Robert White
Robert W. White, Professor of Sociology at Indiana University, Indianapolis (formerly IUPUI), was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. After attending Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI; now, IU Indianapolis) for his first year of college, he transferred to Indiana University, Bloomington, where he received his A.B. (1980), M.A. (1982), and Ph.D. (1987).
After three years as an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Oberlin College (1987-1990), White returned to Indianapolis and joined the faculty of IU Indianapolis. He progressed through the academic ranks and also served in several administrative positions, including Associate Dean (1998-2002) and Dean (2003-2008) of the IU School of Liberal Arts, Chair of the Department of Sociology (2012-2018), and Acting Co-Director of Women’s Studies (1998-1999). White was the founding Director of the Program in Motorsports Studies, and served as an Adjunct Faculty member in the Purdue School of Engineering at IUPUI, the School of Journalism at IUPUI, and Philanthropic Studies.
Robert White’s research interests include the causes and consequences of political violence and the history of Indiana. His books include Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary (2006), which was identified by Choice as an Outstanding Academic Title, and Out of the Ashes: An Oral History of the Provisional Irish Republican Movement (2017), which is considered the definitive history of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and its political wing, Sinn Féin. His documentaries include Unfinished Business: The Politics of “Dissident” Irish Republicans (2012) and Cumann na mBan: The Women’s Army (2019). His articles have been published in the American Sociological Review, the American Journal of Sociology, and the Indiana Magazine of History. His article, “Structural Identity Theory and the Post-Recruitment Activism of Irish Republicans: Persistence, Disengagement, Splits and Dissidents in Social Movement Organizations” (Social Problems, 2010), won the Outstanding Article Award of the American Sociological Association Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements.
Courses taught by Robert W. White include: introduction to sociology; research methods; statistics; political sociology; and, social movements. An award-winning teacher, he has received teaching grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the National Center for Academic Transformation. His scholarship has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, IU Indianapolis, and IU Bloomington. White has served on the Board of Directors of the Indianapolis Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Boulevard Place Food Pantry, and American Cabaret Theatre. He also served on the Board of Governors of the IU Center on Philanthropy and the Advisory Committee of Indiana University Press.