The End is Just the Beginning: : U. A. Whitaker, Biography of an Engineer

The End is Just the Beginning: : U. A. Whitaker, Biography of an Engineer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Uncas A. Whitaker

Uncas Aeneas Whitaker (b. March 22, 1900 in Lincoln, Kansas; d. September 1975 in Maine)^[1] was raised in Missouri. He was a prominent mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, lawyer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He received a mechanical engineering degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an electrical engineering degree from Carnegie Institute of Technology and a law degree from the Cleveland Law School.^[2] At the age of 41, he founded Aircraft-Marine Products, AMP Incorporated, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 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 technologies which have been incorporated into literally thousands of business operations and commercial products.^[2]

When Whitaker died in 1975, he left part of his fortune for a foundation to improve people's lives primarily by supporting Biomedical engineering research and education. Money provided for the Whitaker Foundation by Whitaker and his wife, Helen Whitaker, totaled $120 million. In 1994, the foundation was the sixty-first largest foundation in the United States with assets of $340 million and annual expenditures of $26 million.

During his lifetime, Whitaker also created a philanthropic program to improve the quality of life in the Harrisburg area, AMP's home community. Today the Harrisburg-area Regional Program continues this initiative.^[3]

Notable things named after U. A. Whitaker include:

• Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, San Diego
• The Whitaker Biomedical Engineering Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Building at the Georgia Institute of Technology housing the Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, dedicated 2002.
• Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, dedicated 2000.
• U.A. Whitaker School of Engineering at Florida Gulf Coast University, located in Fort Myers, Florida.
• Uncas A. and Helen F. Whitaker Building for the Life Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.^[3]
• Uncas A. Whitaker Hall for Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis.

[edit] See also

Browse > Journals> Medical Imaging, IEEE Transact ...> Volume: 21 Issue: 8

The Whitaker foundation: the end will be just the beginning

Katona, P.G.;
The Whitaker Foundation

This paper appears in: Medical Imaging, IEEE Transactions on
Issue Date: Aug. 2002
Volume: 21 Issue:8
On page(s): 845 - 849
ISSN: 0278-0062
References Cited: 11
Cited by : 7
Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/TMI.2002.803606
Date of Current Version: 16 十二月 2002
PubMed ID: 12472257
Sponsored by: IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society IEEE Signal Processing Society IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society

Abstract

First Page of the Article

Index Terms

• IEEE terms
  Biomedical engineering , Collaboration , Connectors , Educational programs , Engineering profession , Fellows , Helium , History , Humans , Manufacturing

• Medical Subject Heading (MeSH Terms)
  Biomedical Engineering , Biomedical Research , Curriculum , Diagnostic Imaging , Foundations , Program Development , United States

References

1. W. H. Cohn, The End is Just the Beginning, 1980. :Carnegie-Mellon Univ.
   
   
2. M. Gibbons Jr., "Going for broke", Philanthropy , pp.30 - 31 , 2001.
   
   
3. J. H. Dickason and D. Neuhauser, Closing a Foundation: The Lucille P. Markey Charitable Trust, , 2000. :Council on Foundations, Inc.
   
   
4. H. P. Schwan, "The development of biomedical engineering: Historical comments and early developments", IEEE Trans, Biomed. Eng., vol. BME-31 , pp.730 - 736 , 1984.
   
   
5. H. P. Schwan, Ed., "The history of biomedical engineering ", IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Mag., vol. 10, pp.24 - 50 , 1991.
   
   
6. J. E. Jacobs, Ed., "Papers from symposium on educational frontiers in bio-medical engineering", IRE Trans. Bio-Med. Elect., pp.208 - 238 , 1961 .
   
   
7. E. L. Carstensen, D. W. Healy Jr., H. P. Schwan, and S. Talbot, "Curriculum development in biomedical engineering", J. Eng. Educ., vol. 53, pp.446 - 452 , 1963.
   
   
8. L. Stark, R. Arzbaecher, G. Agarwal, J. Brodkey, D. P. Henry, and W. O'Neill, "Status of research in biomedical engineering", IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng., vol. BME-15, pp.210 - 231 , 1968.
   
   
9. T. R. Harris, "Principles for the design of biomedical engineering curricula", Proc. 2001 Annu. Fall Meeting BMES; Ann. BME, vol. 29 suppl. 1, p.S-104 , 2001.
   
   
10. Annual Report, , 1994. :The Whitaker Foundation
    
    
11. W. R. Hendee, S. Chien, C. D. Maynard, and D. J. Dean, "The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering: History, status and potential impact", Ann. Biomed. Eng., vol. 30, pp.2 - 10 , 2002.
    [CrossRef]
    

Cited by IEEE

1. Abu-Faraj, Ziad O., "Career development in Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering: A student's roadmap", Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2008. EMBS 2008. 30th Annual International Conference of the IEEE, On page(s): 1564 - 1567, Volume: Issue: , 20-25 Aug. 2008
   Abstract | Full Text: PDF (202KB)
2. Abu-Faraj, Ziad O., "Project Alexander the Great: A study on the world proliferation of Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering Education", Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2008. EMBS 2008. 30th Annual International Conference of the IEEE, On page(s): 2873 - 2876, Volume: Issue: , 20-25 Aug. 2008
   Abstract | Full Text: PDF (250KB)
3. Colas Fustero, J., Guillen Arredondo, A., "The biomedical engineer as a driver for Health Technology innovation", Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), 2010 Annual International Conference of the IEEE, On page(s): 6844 - 6846, Volume: Issue: , Aug. 31 2010-Sept. 4 2010
   Abstract | Full Text: PDF (208KB)
4. Linsenmeier, R.A. "What makes a biomedical engineer?", IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine, Vol.22, Iss.4, pp.32, 2003, ISSN: 07395175
   Abstract|Full Text: PDF (1737KB)

Cited by other publishers

1. Riederer, Stephen J. "The Whitaker Foundation: 25 years of support for young investigators in magnetic resonance", Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Vol.53, Iss.6, pp.1241, 2005, ISSN: 07403194
   [CrossRef]
2. G. Katona, Peter "Biomedical Engineering and The Whitaker Foundation: A Thirty-Year Partnership", Annals of Biomedical Engineering, Vol.34, Iss.6, pp.904, 2006, ISSN: 00906964
   [CrossRef]
3. Johnson, Arthur T Horner, Patricia I "Medical Engineering Societies and Organizations", , , 2006
   [CrossRef]