Justin DuPratt White

White was born in Middletown, New York in 1869. He was the third of four children born to Charles White, a merchant, and Elizabeth White.[3]

White graduated from Nyack High School in 1885 among the first class of students to be awarded state diplomas.[3] He earned a scholarship to Cornell University, where he was editor of the Cornell Daily Sun and was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.[3] He graduated from Cornell Law School with an LL.B. in 1890, and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1892.[3]

On May 1, 1901, White and George B. Case founded the law firm White & Case, which served prominent corporate clients such as Bankers Trust Company, as well as Cornell University.[4]

In 1919, White received a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the French Foreign Legion. Colgate University awarded White an LLD degree in 1936. He was named as a commissioner of the Palisades Interstate Park in 1900.[5] He served as president of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission from 1925 until 1939.[6]

On May 5, 1928, the Cornell University Board of Trustees elected White as a trustee to fill a vacancy, and he continued to serve until his death.[4] While on the board, White served on the Buildings and Grounds Committee, Law School Committee, and Medical School Committee. He was elected chairman of the board of trustees in 1939, but because of his untimely death, had the shortest tenure as chairman in the university's history.

In his will, which was 30 pages long, White stipulated that any funds from his multi-million dollar beyond the first eight beneficiaries go to Cornell University.[7]

White & Case endowed the J. DuPratt White Professorship of Law at Cornell in his honor.

• Guide to the J. DuPratt White Papers