Marquis Who's Who Millennium Magazine

414 MILLENNIUM B acked by 62 years of professional experience, George Cooke White has made a name for himself in the creative arts field as founder of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. From the beginning of his career until the present, Mr. White has continued to climb the ladder of success by earning positions in various capacities. In 1955, he began his professional career as a stage manager for the Imperial Japanese Azuma Kabuki Co., and an assistant manager for the International Ballet Festival in Nervi, Italy. In 1963, he founded the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, where he served as president and chairman until 2000. He continued to excel as the founding chairman of the Sundance Institute and the executive director of the Johnny Mercer Foundation. Mr. White received an appointment from President George H.W. Bush to the National Council on the Arts. He has also served as a founding chairman of the Florence Academy of Art since 2004. Throughout his career, Mr. White has served in an educational capacity as an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina and as co-chairman of the theater administration program at the Yale University School of Drama. He remains abreast of the field as a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the College of Fellows of the American Theatre, as well as an honorary member of the Chinese Theatre Association. He has directed productions in Russia, China, Brazil and the Republic of Georgia. To prepare for his career, he earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Fine Arts from Yale University in 1957 and 1961, respectively. He was a student at the University of Paris in 1956 and at the Shakespeare Institute in 1959, and he earned an honorary Doctor of Arts from Connecticut College in 1994. Looking to the future, Mr. White will continue working in the performing arts. George Cooke White Founder Eugene O’Neill Theater Center Waterford, CT