After graduating from Baylor Law School, Mark White began his career in public service in 1966 as an Assistant Attorney General in Austin, Texas. That same year, he married his Baylor sweetheart, Linda Gale Thompson, who began her teaching career at Johnston High School in East Austin.
As Texas Secretary of State, Mark helped draft and pass the Texas Voting Rights Act. As Attorney General of Texas, Mark wrote the State’s first Code of Student Conduct, which advised teachers on how to enforce discipline in the classroom. He established a Special Prosecutorial Assistance Committee to assist rural prosecutors in handling complicated felonies, and he negotiated a settlement with the Federal government on the desegregation of higher education institutions, making Texas the only state in the South to avoid lengthy and expensive litigation.
As an elected governor in 1982, his top priority was to improve the quality of public education for Texas children. His then-controversial “no-pass, no-play” rule and teacher testing improvements remain in effect today. His initiatives continue to represent the most comprehensive education reform in Texas history.
Linda Gale also made public support of children’s issues her priority during her term as First Lady of Texas. As part of the Governor’s office, she helped establish the first statewide “Communities In Schools” program in five Texas cities. Today, CIS is in over 25 cities, on 865 campuses and in 148 school districts. She remains very active in CIS, serving as the Development Chair for Houston CIS and as a member of the national Communities In Schools Board in Alexandria, Virginia.
Today, Mark and Linda Gale live in Houston, where he is President of Geovox Security, Inc. He serves on the Baylor College of Medicine Board, the Board of Visitors of M.D. Anderson and the San Jacinto Museum Board.
Mark and Linda Gale’s three children and spouses, Mark and Melanie, Andrew and Stacey, and Elizabeth and Seth Russell all live in Houston along with their nine children and grandchildren, Luke, Zachary, George, Emma Claire, Wells, Thompson, Catherine, Pierce and Houston!
* Publisher’s Note: Sadly, Governor Mark White passed away in April 2017. His remarkable spirit and accomplishments, especially for the State of Texas, live on through his family and many friends. He is greatly missed.