# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/willis-rodney-whitney
# Generated: 2026-08-14T18:56:13.229Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/willis-rodney-whitney"
name: "Willis Rodney Whitney"
slug: "willis-rodney-whitney"
description: "Willis Rodney Whitney was an American chemist and founder of the research laboratory of the General Electric Company. He is known as the \"father of industrial research\" in the United States for blending the worlds of research and industry together; which at the time, were two very distinct careers. He is also known for his corrosion theory of iron which he developed after studying at M.I.T. and the University of Leipzig. Whitney was also a professor at M.I.T. for some time before his career transition into research directing. He received many awards, including the Willard Gibbs medal, the Franklin medal, the Perkin medal, the Edison medal, the John Fritz medal, the Chandler medal, and many others. He was an astute believer in researching and experimenting for pleasure and voiced his belief at various science conferences."
tagline: "American chemist and founder of the research laboratory of the General Electric Company (1868-1958)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Willis_Rodney_Whitney_(1890).jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Scientists"
  slug: "scientists"
profileType:
  name: "Scientist"
  slug: "scientist"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1868-08-22"
deathDate: "1958-01-09"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           43.38
  momentum:             0.273972602739726
  historical:           13.8081
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
sources:
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    title: "Willis R. Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "ويليس وايتني"
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    title: "ويليس وايتنى"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Willis R. Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "ویلیس ویتنی"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "উইলিস রডনি হুইটনি"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Willis R. Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Willis R. Whitney"
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    title: "ویلیس ویتنی"
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    title: "Willis R. Whitney"
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    title: "Willis R. Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Rodney_Whitney"
    title: "Willis Rodney Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Rodney_Whitney"
    title: "Willis Rodney Whitney"
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    title: "Уитни, Уиллис"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Willis R. Whitney"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "வில்லிஸ் ஆர். விட்னி"
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    title: "Вілліс Вітні"
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    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump