NEMCC native son returns to speak to Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts programs

Mal White to talk about the hospitality industry on Monday, November 13 at 11 a.m.

by Michael H. Miller

BOONEVILLE, Miss. -- (11/08/2023) — One of Northeast Mississippi Community College's native sons is returning to the City of Hospitality to talk to the college's Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts students.

Malcolm "Mal" White will return to the campus where his father was president for over two decades for an in-depth discussion about the hospitality industry as a whole and how it relates to Mississippi on Monday, November 13 at 11 a.m. in the Waller Hall Dining Room (Room 304) on the college's Booneville campus.

White turned his career into promoting the hospitality and tourism industry in Mississippi throughout southeast, the nation and the world.

White is the son of former Northeast Mississippi Junior College president Harold T. White (NEMCC Sports Hall of Fame inductee in 2008) and spent time on the 1970 and 1971 football teams under the tutelage of Northeast Sports Hall of Fame member William "Bill" Ward.

White helped to introduce the Hotel-Motel Restaurant program while he was president at Northeast and the program served as a precursor to the program that Mal White will be speaking on Monday - the Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts Programs.

A native of Stone County and Booneville, White holds a bachelor's degree in social studies from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg and has been turning his love for history into a passion throughout his life.

White has served on various civic and professional organizations, boards and commissions throughout his professional career, including being the chairperson for the Mississippi Blues Commission and the Jackson Historic Preservation Commission.

In 2021, White was inducted into the Northeast Mississippi Community College's Alumni Hall of Fame alongside ZonaDale Lyons Taylor, a founding editorial staff member of the Southern Living and Progressive Farmer magazines.

However, White may be best known for his ownership and operating of a historic and iconic gathering spot in the capital city - Hal & Mal's - which pays homage to the two founding members of the restaurant, both sons of Harold T. White.

Throughout the years, Hal & Mal's has become a cultural melting pot for extraordinary events and festivals throughout Mississippi and the restaurant owner is credited with creating the Hal's St. Paddy's Parade in Jackson that benefits the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and generates over $10 million in economic impact for the City of Jackson each year.

Hal & Mal's received the 2020 Keeping The Blues Alive Award from The Blues Foundation for its work toward the Mississippi tourism industry. White has even authored a book about his family's 36-year business enterprise entitled, The Artful Evolution of Hal & Mal's, which takes readers through stories about the famed Jackson landmark.

In addition to The Artful Evolution of Hal & Mal's, released in 2018, White has become an accomplished author with Little Stories: A Collection of Mississippi Photos (2015) and was featured in the 2014 edition of Mississippi Entrepreneurs. The Mississippi Humanities Council has honored White with the Preserver of Culture Award at the state level.

White's love for hospitality was only matched by his love for tourism in the state and the Northeast son wrapped up a 12-year career with the Mississippi Arts Commission, an art-based granting and service agency, in September 2020 that saw him help bring tourism and the film industry to the Magnolia State.

White also served as the director for Visit Mississippi, the state's tourism office, where in his capacity, he developed and implemented plans to bolster economic growth and opportunities throughout Mississippi through tourism and promoted the state's creative economy as a travel destination and film location.

White has been a host for the weekly radio show, Deep South Dining on Mississippi Public Broadcasting and contributes to the Mississippi Arts Hour - a project he began while with the Mississippi Arts Council. White was instrumental in starting a $25,000 scholarship endowment in the memory of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harold and Jane White.

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