In the classroom, the church and the community, Dr. Jonathan White — or “Brother White,” as he is just as commonly known — has been working to shape the minds and hearts of communities across Pittsburgh.
“On campus, ‘Brother White’ is probably the most famous thing,” he said, noting the title as a nod to his faith and the legacy of Black scholarship. “It took me a while to get my Ph.D., so I couldn’t call myself ‘Doctor.’ But ‘Brother’ connected my faith and the Black experience. It was a way to show love.”
White, a professor and community leader, has been rooted in Pittsburgh since 1997, though his journey began in Norfolk, Virginia.
“My mother always told us we were going to go further than Norfolk,” he recalled. “She made us believe that our minds would be the path to something greater.”
That belief carried him to Clark Atlanta University and later to the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned his Ph.D. with the help of a full scholarship — a moment he calls “God’s plan.” A chance connection with Dr. Lawrence Glasco, a prominent Black historian, eventually led him to teach at Penn State Greater Allegheny under the leadership of Chancellor Curtis Porter, who decades earlier had helped bring Glasco to Pitt.
“I wish I could say it was all part of my plan,” he said. “But it had to be God's.”
For White, education and activism have always gone hand in hand.
“What were all the reading and the books in grad school for, all the papers?” he said. “It was so that you can give back to the people, you can empower the people, you can show God's love to the people.”
He added, “I’m preaching the love of Christ, but not necessarily in the church. It’s in the classroom. And that becomes my pulpit.”
That mission to share God’s love has played out in many forms. White noted that in his early years as an educator, students quickly looked up to him.
“So many of the young men there felt like, ‘Big brother. I could talk to him,’” he said.
White became a trusted mentor, fielding questions about everything from classwork to personal grooming to relationships — needs he saw mirrored in his church work.
“I was just struck by how thirsty young people were for guidance,” he said.
In response, he co-founded the Full Armor Institute, a ministry designed to provide mentorship, life skills and biblical grounding.
“The idea was to build relationship first,” White said. “We always want to minister, but really give these young men someone who cares.”
He continued, “The world will teach them how to be men if we don’t. We wanted to give them a Christian blueprint.”
The Full Armor Institute is just one of White’s many community involvements. In recent years, he has continued to find new ways to speak life into the community and his students, with the goal of empowering them to make the world a better place.
Whether through art, ministry or academia, White says his message remains the same: “You are brilliant. You are made in God’s image. Now go shine.”
