White — who was Chancellor’s Associate Distinguished Professor of Economics in the Division of Social Sciences — was best known for developing the White standards error test in 1980. To this day, the White test is used to check built-in assumptions and procedures of economic models and is often used in software programs that perform regression analysis. 

“Hal’s 30-plus years of service to this campus helped propel our economics department to the top-ranked powerhouse it is today,” Chancellor Marye Anne Fox wrote in a press release.

White was born in Kansas City, Mo. on November 19, 1950. He graduated top of his class from Princeton University in 1972 with a degree in economics, then went on to earn his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976. After serving as a faculty member at the University of Rochester for three years, White came to UCSD in 1979.

In 1999, White co-founded Bates and White Economic Consulting, a firm that works with works with advanced financial, economic and econometric analysis and now employs more than 150 people in Washington D.C. and San Diego.

White is survived by his wife Teresa B. White, children Rich Heath West and Rachel Heath and sisters Celeste White, Catherine White and Lynda Lanker. Funeral services will be private, but there are plans for public memorial tributes at UCSD and in Washington, D.C.