Whitten, E. H. Timothy (Eric Harold Timothy), 1927-
Dates
- Existence: 1927-
Biography
Eric Harold Timothy Whitten, a geologist, was born July 26, 1927, in Ilford, Essex, England, the son of Charles Alexander Whitten and Muriel Smith Whitten. He moved to the US to join the faculty of Northwestern University in 1958. His research interests included the origin and variability of granite as well as analysis of geological materials. In 1981, Whitten left NU for Michigan Technological Institute, where he served as Vice President of Academic Affairs.
Whitten earned B.Sc. degrees in General Honours (Geology, Geography and Pure Mathematics) and Special Geology in 1948 from the University of London, King's College. Whitten took his doctorate at London in 1952. The subject of his dissertation was “The geology of the metamorphic and plutonic rocks of the Gweedore area, County Donegal, Eire.” In 1968 the University of London awarded Whitten a D.Sc. degree in Geology.
Whitten began a career in teaching in 1948 as a Lecturer in Geology at the University of London, Queen Mary College. He held this position until coming to Northwestern University in 1958 as an Associate Professor of Geology. At Northwestern Whitten attained the rank of Professor in 1963. He served as acting chairman of the Department of Geological Sciences during 1974 and as chairman from 1977 to 1981. Whitten left Northwestern in 1981 to become Vice President of Academic Affairs at Michigan Technological University. In addition to his teaching at London and Northwestern, Whitten held visiting professorships at the University of California (Berkeley, 1957 and 1960; Santa Barbara, 1959) and the University of Colorado (Boulder, 1961 and 1963).
Whitten's research interests included the origin and variability of granite and analysis of geological materials. He directed a number of major research projects including one for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration studying the applicability of statistical techniques to remotely-sensed data (see Series 11/3/14/4).
Whitten's writings included two books, Structural Geology of Folded Rocks (1966) and Quantitative Studies in the Geological Sciences: A Memoir in Honor of William C. Krumbein (ed., 1975), and scores of journal articles and technical reports.
In addition to research and writing, Whitten served as secretary of the Northwestern University Senate and as a member of several University Committees including the General Faculty Committee and the Budget and Resources Advisory Committee. He acted as a departmental advisor to undergraduate and graduate students and was also a faculty associate of several student groups.