Brian White named Vice President and General Counsel

Wake Forest University has named Brian White its next vice president and general counsel beginning July 1. He will also serve as corporate secretary for the University. White comes to Wake Forest from the University of Kansas, where he currently serves as vice chancellor for legal affairs and general counsel. 

Reporting directly to the President, White will become the principal legal officer for the University, leading its Office of the General Counsel and providing advice and counsel to the University on all significant legal matters. The general counsel also provides guidance and counsel on legal matters related to Wake Forest University Health Sciences, the School of Medicine, and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. 

“Brian is an exceptionally accomplished attorney who is deeply committed to higher education and well-known for his integrity and strategic thinking,” said Wake Forest President Susan R. Wente. “His significant experience successfully navigating complex legal matters for universities and medical centers made him an excellent fit for this role, and I am pleased to welcome Brian to the Wake Forest community.”

White was selected following a national search led by the legal search firm Major, Lindsey, & Africa. He will succeed J. Reid Morgan, who will retire as senior vice president and general counsel on June 30. 

“I am incredibly honored by the opportunity to join Wake Forest University,” White said. “I am excited to work with President Wente and the rest of her leadership team, and I look forward to the months ahead where I can begin meeting and collaborating with the entire Wake Forest family.”

Since arriving at the University of Kansas in 2018, White provided strategic legal advice and coordinated the delivery of legal services in all areas of law impacting the university. He brings extensive experience working with academic medical centers and D-I college athletics. 

White previously served as chief counsel to UCONN Health in Farmington, Connecticut and as associate general counsel and interim vice president of facilities and support services at UW Health in Madison, Wisconsin. He also was an in-house attorney at the University of Iowa, where he served as a senior associate director and legal counsel for the University of Iowa Healthcare. As an attorney in private practice early in his career, White worked as an associate with the Chicago law firm of Boundas, Skarzynski, Walsh and Black. 

White is a graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law, where he was editor of the Journal of Corporation Law. He is an active member of the American Health Law Association (AHLA), serving as Chair of the In-House Practice Group, and the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA), serving on the Committee on Finance and Audit and the Committee on Strategic Planning.