At 9:30AM Mon., Oct. 12, Naperville resident Herman White officially will announce his intentions to run for the 11th Congressional District, an elected office currently held by Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL-11th).
“The announcement will last about a half hour,” said White Saturday evening. “I plan to walk around and answer questions… talk about how I’ll be trying to match what I do and my experiences with the campaign.”
White said he has a 14-year history of traveling to Washington, meeting with Senators and Congressman on both sides of the aisle, and advocating for science, science education and healthcare.
“I think I’ve learned how to interact for the best interests of the people. That’s what I want to continue to do… serve the best interests of the people.”
White’s desire to serve the 11th Congressional District follows Tonia Khouri (R-Aurora) who last month announced her candidacy during festivities at Frontier Park in Naperville.
Rep. Foster, who also resides in Naperville, has served the 11th District since Jan. 3, 2013.
White’s announcement will take place on the steps of the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle Street.
Brief Bio of Herman B. White
Herman B. White has been a scientist with the United States Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory for more than 41 years. He has participated in building scientific facilities and served as a researcher on nearly a dozen particle physics experiments.
As a citizen advocate, he has led many communication and education efforts about physical science research to the U.S. Congress and agencies in Washington and elsewhere around the world, serving on national advisory panels for the Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, NASA and the U.S. National Academies.
As a community leader, White served a 10-year term on the Edward Health Services Corporation’s Board of Directors, including 15 years on the Quality Committee of the Board. During his tenure, Herman was involved in the Board’s work with the community and local governments to provide better access to healthcare resulting in the establishment of new surgical centers.
As an education leader, he has also served on a number of academic Boards, including Vice Chairman of the Board of the Teachers Academy for Mathematics and Science in Chicago with then future Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner.
Since 1999, White has been a member of the Board of Trustees of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, and served as Vice Chair of the Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Committee. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Physics at North Central College. Having a passion for the education of our next generation, White has volunteered on several STEM mentor programs during his 41 years of research and is an advocate for stronger education to better equip our future leaders.
Herman White is a Ph.D. in particle physics and studied at Earlham College, Michigan State University, Yale University and Florida State University. He and his wife, Peggy, were married in 2012, and currently reside in Naperville, Illinois.
Bio info provided by Herman B. White
11th Congressional District
The 11th Congressional District is one of 18 Congressional Districts in Illinois (and one of 435 in the United States) that sends a representative to serve a two-year term in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. Since the 1860s, the 11th District has been reconfigured many times. Redistricting in 2011 that followed the 2010 Census resulted in a district that covers parts of Cook, DuPage, Kane and Will counties.
Some officials have described the current configuration of the 11th District that encompasses much of Naperville as looking like a “mass of spaghetti.” In addition to Naperville, all or parts of the district’s outreach include Aurora, Bolingbrook, Darien, Joliet, Montgomery, Lisle, Downers Grove, New Lenox, Shorewood and Woodridge.
Naperville also is served by representatives in the 6th (currently Rep. Peter Roskam) and 14th (currently Rep. Randy Hultgren) Congressional Districts.
In the 2014 General Election, 10 Democratic and eight Republican U.S. Representatives were elected to serve in the 114th Congress.
The Primary Election will be held Tues., March 15.
In addition to candidates with a presence in Naperville, Dominick Stella of Darien has announced his candidacy for the 11th Congressional District.