David E. White Jr. served as the 14th Deputy Director of the Peace Corps. He was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 20, 2023, and sworn in by Director Carol Spahn on December 29, 2023.

He previously served as Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources at the U.S. Department of State. Prior to joining the State Department, he served as Special Assistant to the President in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel (PPO). Earlier in the Biden-Harris Administration, White served on the National Security Council as Senior Advisor to the White House Coordinator for Operation Allies Welcome, where he facilitated whole-of-government efforts to provide housing, health care, education, employment, and other resources at scale for nearly 90,000 Afghan allies resettled in the United States. An attorney by training, White joined the Biden-Harris Administration as Deputy Associate Counsel in PPO.

In 2019, White served as a policy advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. He later served in a similar capacity with President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. Following their election, White served as an attorney on the Biden-Harris Transition Team.

White began his career in public service as a cavalry officer in the U.S. Army. He served on active duty in a variety of domestic and overseas assignments, including as a Scout Platoon Leader in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from 2011 to 2012. After being wounded in combat, White served as second-in-command of the Warrior Transition Unit at West Point, where he coordinated care for other wounded, ill, and injured service members. His military awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, and Combat Action Badge.

White is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and earned his law degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School. After law school, he clerked for Judge Paul J. Watford of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and worked as an attorney at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York City.

Born and raised in New York’s Hudson Valley, White splits his time between Washington, DC and Cambridge, MA, where his wife, Dana McKinney White, is a professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

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