Thomas White to be featured speaker for fall commencement

Thomas R. White, Chairman, President & CEO of Sargent & Lundy LLC, will be the featured speaker at the College of Engineering fall commencement ceremony. The graduation event will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 20, in the Foellinger Great Hall at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

An Illinois alumnus, White graduated from the College of Engineering in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering. In 1985, after several years as a field engineer, he joined Sargent & Lundy, one of the largest and most experienced power engineering firms worldwide, with headquarters in Chicago. In less than 10 years, White was appointed project manager, guiding diverse new generation and modification projects, system planning studies, and environmental compliance planning projects. 

In 2000, White was admitted to firm ownership as a senior vice president. Over the next 10 years, he led numerous complex projects for multiple electric utility clients, including new natural gas-fired and coal-fired power plants and major coal plant emission control systems retrofits. He joined the firm's Executive Team in 2009 as Executive VP and then President, working closely with top executives of the firm's domestic and international clients, major constructors, and multinational heavy equipment manufacturers. 

White took over leadership of Sargent & Lundy in January 2014. He has served on the National Coal Council, Nuclear Energy Institute Board of Directors, United Way Tocqueville Advisory Committee, and the Sargent & Lundy Endowment Advisory Committee. He was instrumental in spearheading the revitalization of the Sargent & Lundy Endowment Fund, which provides scholarships to deserving Engineering at Illinois undergraduates annually.