Mary Anne White

White was born in London, Ontario. As a child, she was encouraged to complete science experiments. She attended the University of Western Ontario for undergraduate studies in chemistry. Returning in 2011 to deliver to convocation address, White explained, “By the end of the first week at Western, I knew that I had found my place in life… I had met ‘my people’ and being back at Western always brings back that excitement,”. She was a research student at McMaster University, where she worked under the supervision of James A. Morrison. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oxford and the University of Waterloo.

White began her academic career as an assistant professor at the University of Waterloo. In 1983 joined Dalhousie University, where she served as both Professor of Chemistry and Physics and Director of the Institute for Research in Materials. White developed novel thermal energy storage materials, specialising in areas such as materials that serve as efficient thermoelectrics and thermochromics, with low thermal expansion and the ability of phase-change materials to store heat. In 2010, White founded the Dalhousie Research in Energy, Advanced Materials and Sustainability (DREAMS) program. She was made Harry Shirreff Professor of Chemical Research Emerita in 2016.

Mary Anne White OC FRSC (born December 28, 1953) is a Canadian materials scientist who is the Harry Shirreff (Emerita) Professor of Chemical Research at Dalhousie University. Her research considers novel solar thermal materials and their application in renewable energy devices. She is the author of a textbook titled Physical Properties of Materials. She was appointed an Officer to the Order of Canada in 2016.