John Galbraith White (May 16, 1916 – March 16, 1997) was an American

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is di ...

, who won Olympic gold at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

. Born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and raised in the Seward Park area, White's father was a steel exporter who had sculled at the Pennsylvania Athletic Club in Philadelphia. John White was aged just 16 when he graduated from Franklin High School to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. White rowed in the

senior varsity eights which won US national

Intercollegiate Rowing Association The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) governs intercollegiate rowing between varsity men's heavyweight, men's lightweight, and women's lightweight rowing programs across the United States, while the NCAA fulfills this role for women's ope ...

titles in 1936 and 1937. In 1936, he won the Olympic gold medal in the four seat of the American boat in the eights competition. His role in the

eight and their Olympic victory is explored in the 2013 non-fiction book by author Daniel James Brown, ''

The Boys in the Boat ''The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics'' is a non-fiction novel written by Daniel James Brown and published on June 4, 2013. Background ''The Boys in the Boat'' is a true story based ...

''.Brown, Daniel James (2013). ''The Boys In The Boat'', Viking / Penguin Group, New York. . White graduated with a degree in metallurgical engineering. His career was in the steel industry including a position as General Manager Sales at

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

References

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:White, John 1916 births 1997 deaths Rowers from Seattle American male rowers Rowers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in rowing University of Washington alumni Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics