J. Benton White (d. 1931- ) grew up in Alabama and studied theology at Emory University and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. He began serving as a chaplain for the Air Force in the late 1950s, before moving to the Wesley Foundation, the United Methodist campus ministry, at the University of Nebraska. In 1961, he came to California to direct the Wesley Foundation at San José State College and became active in the civil rights movement on campus. President Robert D. Clark in the fall of 1967 chose White to be the first ombudsman, a position created in response to racial discrimination and conflict. It was the first of its kind at a college or university in the United States and became a model for similar roles at other institutions in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

After serving as ombudsman for two years, White became the assistant to the interim president of SJS College, Hobert Burns in 1969. He founded the Religious Studies program in 1970 and worked as SJSU faculty until his retirement in 1992. He has written several academic books in the field of religious studies, published a novel and continues to be active in the United Methodist Church.