Wyatt C. Whitley (October 17, 1900 – November 5, 1982) was an American

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

, professor of

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and a former director of the Engineering Experiment Station at the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

(now known as the

Georgia Tech Research Institute The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. GTRI employs around 3,000 people, and was involved in nearly $1 ...

) from 1963 until 1968.

Education

Whitley received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in Chemistry from

Wake Forest College Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private university, private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, North Carolina, Wake ...

in 1929. He received a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

in Chemistry from the

Georgia School of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

in 1934, and attended the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

for his PhD.

Career

As a graduate student at Georgia Tech, Whitley began working as a chemistry instructor. After receiving his PhD at the University of Wisconsin, he returned to Georgia Tech where he was named a full professor of chemistry in 1944. His association with the Engineering Experiment Station (now known as the Georgia Tech Research Institute) began in 1955 as chief of the chemical sciences division. He was later raised to the position of associate director and, upon the assignment of Station director Robert E. Stiemke to the post of Administrator of Research in the office of the Dean of Faculties, became the Station's director in 1963. During his tenure as director, the level of research activity increased from $4 million to $7 million and the number of full-time staff increased by 33 percent. In 1966, the completion of the Electronics Research Building allowed a large number of the Engineering Experiment Station's research activities to come together under one roof, after being housed in more than a dozen temporary locations. Additionally, the construction of the Baker Building (currently home to the GTRI Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory) was well underway when Whitley retired in 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitley, Wyatt C. 1900 births 1982 deaths People from Tennessee Georgia Tech Research Institute people Wake Forest University alumni Georgia Tech alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Georgia Tech faculty