Harrison White

Harrison Colyar White (born March 21, 1930) is an emeritus Giddings Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. He played an influential role in the 'Harvard Revolution' in social networks and the New York School of relational sociology. White is credited with developing mathematical models of social structure, including vacancy chains and blockmodels. His work has led to a revolution in sociology, shifting the focus from individual attributes to patterns of relations. White is highly respected among social network researchers and has been honored with a special 'White Tie' event at the 1997 International Network of Social Network Analysis conference. He is considered both a visionary and the inventor of tools in social network research.