Whitney, Willis Rodney (1868–1958)

US chemical and electrical engineer. While teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1896–1904), he began to work with General Electric (from 1901) and ended up staying with the firm until 1954, at one stage serving as vice-president (1928–41). He was director of research at General Electric in Schenectady, New York, where he founded its laboratory and helped make the company a leader in lighting and other applications of electricity. His innovations in such items as the tungsten filament and the X-ray tube led to his holding over 40 patents. Whitney was born in Jamestown, New York.