[2] He went up to the University of Oxford, where he completed his undergraduate studies at Wadham College (matriculating in 1994); in his third and final year, he completed his undergraduate thesis on the Victorian architect T. G. Jackson, who carried out substantial work at the college (Whyte later told The Oxford Mail that he was inspired by Jackson's portrait in Wadham's hall).
[5][6] Whyte then completed a Master of Studies (MSt) degree in 1998,[1] and a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree at the University of Oxford;[7] his doctorate was awarded in 2002 for his thesis entitled "Oxford Jackson: architecture, education, status and style, 1835–1924".
[8] Whyte subsequently became a Tutor and Fellow at St John's College, Oxford, where he is Vice-President and Acting President as of 2018.
[12] Whyte's research has centered on the constructed and natural surroundings, and their role in shaping narratives regarding contemporary British and European history.
[16] His publications include Oxford Jackson: Architecture, Education, Status, and Style 1835–1924 (Oxford University Press, 2006), Redefining Christian Britain Post-1945 Perspectives (co-authored with Jane Garnett, Matthew Grimley and Alana Harris; SCM Press, 2007), Nationalism and the Reshaping of Urban Communities in Europe, 1848-1914 (co-edited with Olive Zimmer; Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), Classes, Cultures, and Politics: Essays on British History for Ross McKibbin (co-edited with Clare Griffiths and J. J. Nott; Oxford University Press, 2011), The Established Church: Past, Present and Future (co-edited with Mark Chapman; T&T Clark, 2011), Redbrick: A Social and Architectural History of Britain's Civic Universities (Oxford University Press, 2015), and Unlocking the Church: The Lost Secrets of Victorian Sacred Space (Oxford University Press, 2017).