U. A. Whitaker
Encyclopedia
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. He was a prominent mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. He received a mechanical engineering degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, an electrical engineering degree from Carnegie Institute of Technology
Carnegie Institute of Technology
The Carnegie Institute of Technology , is the name for Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering. It was first called the Carnegie Technical Schools, or Carnegie Tech, when it was founded in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie who intended to build a “first class technical school” in Pittsburgh,...
and a law degree from the Cleveland Law School
Cleveland-Marshall College of Law
The Cleveland–Marshall College of Law is the law school of Cleveland State University, located in Cleveland, Ohio. The school traces its origins to the founding of Cleveland Law School in 1897 which, in 1946, merged with the John Marshall School of Law, founded in 1916, to become Cleveland–Marshall...
. At the age of 41, he founded Aircraft-Marine Products, AMP Incorporated, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, which would become the world's largest manufacturer of electrical devices and connectors. His company was instrumental in the development of miniature components and advanced computer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
technologies which have been incorporated into literally thousands of business operations and commercial products.
When Whitaker died in 1975, he left part of his fortune for a foundation to improve people's lives primarily by supporting Biomedical engineering
Biomedical engineering
Biomedical Engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology. This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine: It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to improve...
research and education. Money provided for the Whitaker Foundation
Whitaker Foundation
The Whitaker Foundation was based in Arlington, Virginia and was an organization that primarily supported biomedical engineering education and research, but also supported other forms of medical research. It was founded and funded by U. A. Whitaker in 1975 upon his death with additional support...
by Whitaker and his wife, Helen Whitaker, totaled $120 million. In 1994, the foundation was the sixty-first largest foundation
Foundation (charity)
A foundation is a legal categorization of nonprofit organizations that will typically either donate funds and support to other organizations, or provide the source of funding for its own charitable purposes....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with assets of $340 million and annual expenditures of $26 million.
During his lifetime, Whitaker also created a philanthropic program
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
to improve the quality of life
Quality of life
The term quality of life is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and politics. Quality of life should not be confused with the concept of standard of...
in the Harrisburg area, AMP's home community. Today the Harrisburg-area Regional Program continues this initiative.
Notable things named after U. A. Whitaker include:
- Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, San DiegoUniversity of California, San DiegoThe University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
- The Whitaker Biomedical Engineering Institute at the Johns Hopkins UniversityJohns Hopkins UniversityThe Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
School of MedicineJohns Hopkins School of MedicineThe Johns Hopkins School of Medicine , located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., is the academic medical teaching and research arm of Johns Hopkins University. Hopkins has consistently been the nation's number one medical school in the amount of competitive research grants awarded by the National... - Building at the Georgia Institute of TechnologyGeorgia Institute of TechnologyThe Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
housing the Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, dedicated 2002. - Whitaker Center for Science and the ArtsWhitaker Center for Science and the ArtsWhitaker Center for Science and the Arts is located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The center is the first complex of its kind in the United States to use science as an entry to the arts. Whitaker Center exhibits science, the performing arts, and an IMAX theater under one roof...
located in Harrisburg, PennsylvaniaHarrisburg, PennsylvaniaHarrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
, dedicated 2000. - U.A. Whitaker School of Engineering at Florida Gulf Coast UniversityFlorida Gulf Coast UniversityFlorida Gulf Coast University, also known as FGCU, is a coeducational public university located just south of the Southwest Florida International Airport in the South Fort Myers region of unincorporated Lee County, Florida, United States. The university belongs to the 11-campus State University...
, located in Fort Myers, FloridaFort Myers, FloridaFort Myers is the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. Its population was 62,298 in the 2010 census, a 29.23 percent increase over the 2000 figure....
. - Uncas A. and Helen F. Whitaker Building for the Life Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. - Uncas A. Whitaker Hall for Biomedical EngineeringWashington University School of Engineering and Applied ScienceThe Washington University School of Engineering is a part of Washington University in St. Louis. Founded in 1854, the engineering school is a world-class research institution occupying seven buildings on Washington University’s Danforth Campus...
at Washington University in St. LouisWashington University in St. LouisWashington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
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