Acadia alumnus and chief of the Ottawa Police Service Vernon White (’98) has been appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

White, 52, was one of seven people appointed on Jan. 6, 2012 by the PM to the Red Chamber. Other appointees included JoAnne Buth, Norman Doyle, Ghislain Maltais, Dr. Asha Seth and Betty Unger. White’s appointment fills an Ontario Senate vacancy, effective Feb. 20, 2012.

Originally from New Waterford, Nova Scotia, White has a diploma in Business Administration from the College of Cape Breton, a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Acadia, and a Masters from Royal Roads University in B.C.

In an e-mail interview, White commented on the appointment and shared his thoughts on Acadia’s role in developing his career path. “Working as a police officer for over 30 years in the three territories and three different provinces has given me experiences and an understanding of issues across this country that I believe and hope will assist me in the Senate. As for my time at Acadia, I attended many summers and completed my degree part-time and by distance. The school and in particular the distance education staff were spectacular, as without their help and understanding I would have never graduated. The experience under professors at Acadia made me think differently and exposed me to thinking that has helped me in the past and will continue to help in my next role serving this country.”

White spent more than 20 years with the RCMP and was Assistant Commissioner for Information and Identification in the Ottawa region prior to joining the Durham Regional Police Service. He was named Chief of the Ottawa Police Service in 2007.