White graduated from Harvard University in 1965 with a bachelor's degree.
In 1972, he earned his PhD in history with a study of Edward Coke.
White joined the faculty of Emory University in 1989, serving as the Asa G. Candler Professor of Medieval History until his retirement in 2013.
He explored the conflict management and settlement in high medieval France, and other diverse aspects of political, legal and social history.
[3] In his study into the Bayeux tapestry,[5] White has "cautioned against reading it as an English or Norman story, showing how the animal fables visible in the borders may instead offer a commentary on the dangers of conflict and the futility of pursuing power".