After completing his Bachelor of Music at Appalachian State University he went on to graduate school at The University of Texas at Austin where he began to study more specifically jazz saxophone and composition. In 1999 he finished his Masters of Music in composition and moved into the doctoral program at UT Austin, completed in 2003.

During his residency at both universities, Dr. White studied with a variety of composition and performance instructors including Dan Welcher, Rick Lawn, Rick Margitza, William Gora and Donald Grantham. Dr. White has performed with and has had the privilege of writing for many local and national musicians such as Phil Woods, Michael Brecker, Joshua Redman, Jim McNeely, Ernie Watts, Areatha Franklin, Dick Oats, Peter Erskine, Butch Miles, Frank Mantooth, Wayne Newton, Bob Newhart and many others.

Dr. White has played with various groups of varied styles of music all over the world and is the founding member of The Paul White Quintet, a contemporary jazz quintet that has performed in many different venues throughout the country including several annual jazz festivals.

In 2008 Dr. White was awarded the position of Baritone Saxophonist with The US Army Field Bands Jazz Ambassadors. As a member of the Jazz Ambassadors he played concerts across the United States for hundreds of thousands of people each year. Dr. White performed on The Colbert Report and was part of the Kennedy Center Honors dedication to Dave Bruebeck.

In 2011 Dr. White was awarded the position of Staff Arranger for The U.S. Army Field Band and has had his arrangements/compositions played by The Concert Band, Soldiers Chorus, Six-String-Soldiers, and The Jazz Ambassadors. In 2019 Dr. White’s arrangement of the iconic John Williams melody, Leia's Theme, received the SONIC Outstanding Arrangement Award from The International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers and was featured on the award concert as part of the ISJAC Symposium in Greeley, CO.

Dr. White continues to compose and perform with local ensembles in the Washington D.C./Baltimore area travels across the country giving concerts and clinics.band director. He also

worked for his hometown newspaper, the Tallahassee Democrat, as a writer and

copy editor.