Jean Bickmore White was born on April 12, 1924 in Hyrum, Utah to Lettie Critchlow and Danford M. Bickmore. She grew up in Paradise, Utah and graduated from South Cache High School in 1942. She attended Brigham Young University where she was the first woman editor of the Y News and member of the debate team.


She transferred to the University of Utah, where she was the editor of the Chronicle. She also wrote articles for the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune. After graduating from the University of Utah in 1947, she received a master of arts degree in political science from UCLA in 1949 where she was a teaching fellow. Jean married John Stephen White in 1951. They eventually settled in Farmington, Utah.


Dr. White did freelance research, writing and editing, eventually returning to the University of Utah to earn a doctorate in political science in 1968. She joined the political science faculty at Weber State College in 1969, and stayed until 1989.


She served on the Utah Constitutional Revision Commission, the Utah State Board of Corrections and the Utah State Records Committee and also was a consultant on many local government studies. She directed an internship program for Weber at the Utah Legislature, where she encouraged her students to become active participants in community affairs. After her retirement from Weber State she published numerous papers, articles and a reference guide to the Utah State Constitution. She was an active participant in the Centennial celebration of the Utah State Constitution.


She passed away on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 in Salt Lake City, Utah.