Eric Wyndham White
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir Eric Wyndham White KCMG (1913–1980) was a British administrator and economist. He was founder and first executive secretary of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade between 1948 and 1965. He was the first director-general of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade from 1965 to 1968.
Eric Wyndham White | |
|---|---|
| 1st Director-General of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade | |
| In office 23 March 1965 – 6 May 1968 | |
| Preceded by | none |
| Succeeded by | Olivier Long |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 January 1913 |
| Died | 27 January 1980 (aged 67) France |
Born on 26 January 1913, White was educated at the Westminster City School and the London School of Economics. He graduated as a LLB with first class honours and in 1938 was called to the bar by the Middle Temple.[1] He was an assistant lecturer at the LSE until the Second World War started when he moved to the Ministry of Economic Warfare.[1] In 1942 he became the First Secretary at the British Embassy in Washington.[1]
In 1945 he became Special Assistant to the European Director of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.[1] He became involved in the forming of a secretariat for a new international trade organisation, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1948 and became the first Director-General.[1]
For a brief time in 1970, he was the chairman of the financially troubled mutual fund Investors Overseas Service.[2]
White died aged 67 on 27 January 1980 in France after suffering a heart attack while swimming.[1]
