Elizabeth "Lib" Eaton White, daughter of respected Professor Elon Howard Eaton, who established the biology department at the Colleges, grew up in Geneva and graduated from William Smith in 1933. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate, she went on to earn a master's degree in social work from what is now the Columbia School of Social Work.
White's career spanned more than 40 years, during which she served as director of the Monroe County Welfare Department and worked in child welfare agencies in Oklahoma, Maine, Oregon, New York and Washington State before returning to Geneva in 1957.
In 1962 White founded and became the first executive director of the Family Counseling Service of the Finger Lakes. Family Counseling Service assists more than 1,500 local residents every year through individual and family counseling, employee assistance, domestic violence and child sexual abuse services and home-based family support programs. The program now exists in four communities in the Finger Lakes region, and has made a dramatic difference in the quality of life in this area.
In 1976, her family established the Elizabeth Eaton White Award in her honor. The award is given to a Hobart and William Smith student who has shown the most promise of pursuing a successful humanitarian career. Recipients of the award have gone on to become teachers, psychotherapists and specialists in the human services field.
Devoted to this campus where she played as a child, White has attended nearly every Reunion since 1983. In addition, she can be found "front and center" at events such as William Smith Founder's Day, theater productions, Blackwell Award presentations, Holiday Receptions and the President's Forum Series presentations. It is simply not a "sanctioned" Colleges' event without your presence.
The William Smith Class of 1914 named her as their mascot when she was 3 years old.
Contribution: In 1962 White founded and became the first executive director of the Family Counseling Service of the Finger Lakes.
Hometown: Geneva, N.Y.
Other Education: B.A., William Smith, 1933
Master's degree in social work from what is now the Columbia School of Social Work