 She received a bachelor of arts from the College of William & Mary in 1970.She earned an master of arts in psychology in 1971 from The New School for Social Research and a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School in 1974, where she was a Writing & Research Editor of the "Columbia Law Review".White became Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York in December 1992, and in March 1993 was appointed by President Bill Clinton as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District.