Henry Seely White

He was born in Cazenovia, New York to parents Aaron White and Isadore Maria Haight.

White excelled at Wesleyan in astronomy, ethics, Latin, logic, mathematics, and philosophy.

At the university, John Monroe Van Vleck taught White mathematics and astronomy.

Later, Van Vleck persuaded White to continue to study mathematics at the graduate level.

He left Northwestern to be near his ill mother and became Chairman of the Mathematics Department at Vassar College.