The Jesse White Jr Master's Scholarship is made possible by the generosity of Dr Jesse White Jr, Mississippi's first Marshall Scholar, and recipient of an MA in International Relations from the University of Sussex in 1968.

Dr White was awarded a PhD in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979. He was the Director of the Office of Economic and Business Development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for many years.

Dr White also held the title of Adjunct Professor in the School of Government and is a nationally recognised authority on regional economic development. Prior to joining UNC at Chapel Hill in 2003 Dr White served for nine years as Federal Co-Chairman of the Appalachian Regional Commission, and from 1990-1994 he was a consultant, lecturer and writer in the field of economic development and strategic planning. Before this he led the Southern Growth Policies Board, a think tank on economic development; he served as chief policy planner in the US Department of Education; and in the 1970s he was Mississippi Secretary of State.