Ben White, 2025 PharmTox Alumnus of the Year, has shaped a purpose-driven career fueled by curiosity

By Katie Ginder-Vogel

For many, each step in their career is another rung on the ladder in an upward climb. But for Ben White (BS ’00), his career path has been more like a jungle gym, he says.

“When I graduated, I had this notion that I was going to be a toxicologist for my whole life,” says White, who graduated from the Pharmacology and Toxicology program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Pharmacy.

But his natural curiosity and openness to new opportunities means he’s always reaching for the next challenge, which has taken him from toxicology labs to sustainability strategy meetings to innovation incubators, each move building on the last in unexpected but meaningful ways.

“Anytime there’s change, in my mind, that equals opportunity,” he says. “And when opportunities come up, I’m usually inclined to say yes.”

“When you have purpose and meaning in your work, which I can say I’ve had for most of my career, that is amazing.”
—Ben White

His instinct for pursuing new challenges has led him to a career defined by his commitment to innovation, operational excellence, sustainability, safety and regulatory compliance, and technical expertise. For his wide-ranging impact, he’s being honored as the School of Pharmacy’s 2025 Pharmacology and Toxicology Alumnus of the Year.

Today, White is the director of the Innovation Capabilities Center of Excellence at SC Johnson, a company he’s been with for 25 years.

“When you have purpose and meaning in your work, which I can say I’ve had for most of my career, that is amazing,” he says. “I consider myself very lucky.” 

The science of safety

White first joined SC Johnson right after graduation in 2000, as a global safety assessment and regulatory affairs toxicologist, where he provided toxicological knowledge and support for home cleaning and insect control projects, including Raid, Pledge, and Scrubbing Bubbles. He tailored risk assessments and managed product safety testing, labeling, and precautions.

In 2006, White spent a year in Shanghai, China, to establish and train a Shanghai-based product safety group and analyze consumer habits and practices to increase new product development options. 

“I’d go home so exhausted because I was taking in new information and redoing risk assessments,” he says. “It was amazing. I was going into homes with project teams and doing research that way. I love ambiguity, jumping into unknown situations and trying to figure them out.”

In 2009, White became the senior environmental, safety, and regulatory project manager, and then was promoted to manager of this area just two years later.

“The training I got in PharmTox gave me this unique blend of scientific rigor and critical thinking, which has been invaluable in terms of studying chemical exposure and assessing risk,” he says. “As you get more experience, you get to clarify your gut, getting even more accurate in your risk assessments.”

Sustainability focus

In 2013, White became the manager of research and development enabling innovation through Greenlist, a program showcasing the company’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact and increasing post-consumer recycled content in its products.

“It was my first time outside toxicology, the function that hired me,” White says. “It felt big because it was important to the chairman, and, like anything well-intended, sustainability is hard. I was in charge of relaunching the Greenlist program and figuring out how we could leverage it in a way to improve our scores, which would mean we’re making better choices about the materials and chemicals that go into our products.” White’s leadership drove a 5-point improvement in SC Johnson’s corporate Greenlist score in just two years, which earned him a Special Chairman’s Award for Excellence from the company.

“It felt like truly meaningful work, and I loved coming to work each day and building tools to help teams understand their choices,” he says. “It offered a different way to engage, through training, websites, and using systems thinking that allowed me to envision the total impact of our choices early on — even beyond just the chemicals and packaging ingredients. Where are they sourced from? What suppliers are using better practices, like with deforestation?” 

White’s accomplishments landed him a role as the R&D sustainability director in 2015, as well as the Greenlist Timeless Timber Award for his impact in setting up new product development in Shanghai.  

“That role broadened my skills, which had been mostly focused on human health, to include recyclability, which really aligned with my personal beliefs,” White says. “I consider myself a sustainability evangelist; I’ve always been the person picking up garbage in my neighborhood and collecting plastic grocery bags from friends.”

Supporting innovation

As White thought and talked about circular economies, with end products providing nutrients for new products, in his sustainability role, he became curious about business innovation and moved into a role as portfolio director for SC Johnson’s Air Care (Glade) business in 2016.

In 2017, he became marketing manager for the Innovation Operating System, and in 2022, he was promoted to director of marketing in SC Johnson’s Innovation Incubator. In that role, White helped set up the company’s new Innovation Incubator group, which he says reflects his ongoing commitment to shaping the company’s future through cutting-edge initiatives. 

Last year, White was selected for the company’s Ocean Plastic Awakening Experience. White traveled to the Philippines to witness the crisis caused by plastic waste firsthand and then led a team in brainstorming solutions on how to address the challenge. 

“Right now, our sustainability focus is multifaceted, with a focus on using recovered ocean plastic for packaging,” White says. “I love the idea of continuously exploring the intersection of technology and sustainability to drive innovation.” 

It’s fitting that White’s newest role, as of 2024, is director of the Innovation Capabilities Center of Excellence, ensuring the teams are staying current with the rapidly changing landscape of technology and innovation. 

“I’m developing new ways to drive new growth for the company, using my background in human health and sustainability to turn ideas into products people would love to use,” he says. “Taking an opportunity and developing a solution is incredibly rewarding. I love that process; it’s really meaningful for me when we’re able to do that.”

Blueprint for innovation

White’s forward-looking mentality drives every aspect of his work.

“My work demands it, and I find it to be something that I love to do — looking forward, or even better, around the corner,” he says. “When I was doing Greenlist, we wanted to meet high standards and exceed regulations, looking around the corner to see what was coming up with different chemicals, making sure our info is updated, and holding ourselves to high standards.”

Another way White looks “around the corner” is in his role as vice chair of the SC Johnson Alliance of Black Professionals Employee Resource Group. 

“The training I got in PharmTox gave me this unique blend of scientific rigor and critical thinking, which has been invaluable in terms of studying chemical exposure and assessing risk.”
—Ben White

“This is what allyship looks like,” he says. “I can support belonging, foster professional development, and expand my network. It’s important to SC Johnson and it’s important to me. In innovation, diversity hands-down improves ideation. We do a bunch of events, including training on microinequities, where we start to describe what unconscious bias looks like and isolate what it is, to address it.”

Now that White’s focus is on emerging technology, he is enjoying delving into AI’s potential in innovation and product development. 

“A lot of my job is also evolving consumer needs, as it relates to macroeconomic shifts,” he says. “Trends are interesting but come and go — the evolving consumer behaviors that drive trends are what interest me.”

That mindset, he says, goes back to the foundation he built in the PharmTox program.

“It’s my secret weapon, for sure,” he says. “When you’re in PharmTox, looking at all the data and trying to make sense of it, you ask, ‘What is the evidence telling me?’ That’s great business thinking, too, and that’s exactly how you drive disruptive innovation — by identifying emerging patterns and turning them into something that creates meaning and value for someone else.”