Thomas M. Whitney is best known as an inventor of the pocket calculator and an early employee of Apple Computer

Apple Computer

Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...

.

Tom joined Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...

 in 1967, where he helped develop the HP-35

HP-35

The HP-35 was Hewlett-Packard's first pocket calculator and the world's first scientific pocket calculator . Like some of HP's desktop calculators it used reverse Polish notation. Introduced at US$395, the HP-35 was available from 1972 to 1975.Market studies at the time had shown no market for...

, the world's first handheld scientific electronic calculator. During the HP years, he was also served as a lecturer at Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...

.

He later joined Apple as employee 15 and in 1978 became executive vice president of engineering, working directly with Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs

Steven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...

 and Jef Raskin

Jef Raskin

Jef Raskin was an American human-computer interface expert best known for starting the Macintosh project for Apple in the late 1970s.-Early years and education:...

 on the Macintosh

Macintosh

The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...

 project.

Tom completed BS (1961), MS (1962), and PhD (1964) degrees in electrical engineering at Iowa State University

Iowa State University

Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...

, where he was a member of Acacia

Acacia Fraternity

Acacia Fraternity is a Greek social fraternity originally based out of Masonic tradition. At its founding in 1904, membership was originally restricted to those who had taken the Masonic obligations, and the organization was built on those ideals and principles. Within one year, four other Masonic...

 fraternity. He graduated from Aurelia High School

Aurelia High School

Aurelia High School was the senior high school of Aurelia Community School. It is located in Aurelia, Iowa, a town in Cherokee County, Iowa. At the time that the high school closed following the 2011-12 school year, Aurelia was one of the smallest schools in the state, with a 9-12 enrollment of...

 in Aurelia, Iowa

Aurelia, Iowa

Aurelia is a city in Cherokee County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,062 at the 2000 census.-History:Aurelia was founded in 1873 as a stop along the Illinois Central Railroad branch connecting Sioux City, Iowa to Chicago, Illinois. This was the only railroad connecting the two...

in 1957.

Whitney died in 1986 at age 47.

External links

• Stories about the Macintosh