# Glayde Whitney

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American geneticist

Glayde Whitney Born 1939 Montana, United States Died January 8, 2002 (aged 62–63) Tallahassee, Florida, United States Alma mater University of Minnesota Scientific career Fields Behavior genetics Institutions Florida State University

**Glayde D. Whitney** (1939 – January 8, 2002) was an American [behavioral geneticist](/source/Behavioral_geneticist) and [psychologist](/source/Psychologist). He was [professor](/source/Professor) at [Florida State University](/source/Florida_State_University). Beyond his work into the genetics of [sensory system](/source/Sensory_system) function in [mice](/source/Mouse), in his later life he supported [David Duke](/source/David_Duke) as well as research into [race and intelligence](/source/Race_and_intelligence) and [eugenics](/source/Eugenics).

## Biography

Whitney was born in [Montana](/source/Montana) and grew up in [Minnesota](/source/Minnesota).[1] He earned his bachelor's degree from the [University of Minnesota](/source/University_of_Minnesota), as well as his doctorate from there in 1966. He then enlisted in the [United States Air Force](/source/United_States_Air_Force) and served until 1969. He subsequently worked as a [postdoctoral fellow](/source/Postdoctoral_fellow) at the Institute for Behavioral Genetics ([University of Colorado at Boulder](/source/University_of_Colorado_at_Boulder)), under [Gerald McClearn](/source/Gerald_McClearn) and [John C. DeFries](/source/John_C._DeFries).[2]

In 1970, Whitney was hired by [Florida State University](/source/Florida_State_University) to represent behavioral genetics in the [psychobiology](/source/Psychobiology) program, where he stayed until his death at the age of 62 on January 8, 2002, after contracting a severe cold that aggravated emphysema.[2] He considered himself to be a "[Hubert Humphrey](/source/Hubert_Humphrey) liberal."[1]

## Academic work

Whitney was the author of over 60 papers on the genetics of [taste](/source/Taste) sensitivity in inbred mice. Support for some of this work came from a Claude Pepper Award for Research Excellence from the [National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders](/source/National_Institute_on_Deafness_and_Other_Communication_Disorders) and in 1994 he received the Manheimer Lectureship Award from the [Monell Chemical Senses Center](/source/Monell_Chemical_Senses_Center), which recognizes career achievements of individuals in the chemosensory sciences.[2] He was the president of the [Behavior Genetics Association](/source/Behavior_Genetics_Association) from 1994 to 1995.[3]

By 1999, Whitney had shifted from studying mice to researching [race and intelligence](/source/Race_and_intelligence) in humans. As part of this research, Whitney was supported by the [Pioneer Fund](/source/Pioneer_Fund), which has ties to [scientific racism](/source/Scientific_racism).[4]

## Political views

Whitney was a frequent contributor to magazines such as *[Mankind Quarterly](/source/Mankind_Quarterly)*, *The g Factor Newsletter*, and *The William McDougall Newsletter* (named after eugenicist psychologist [William McDougall](/source/William_McDougall_(psychologist))). While outgoing president of the Behavior Genetics Association in 1995, some members of this group demanded his resignation after his presidential address suggested the need to investigate the possibility of genetic factors behind the high incidence of black crime in America.[5][6][7][8][9][10]

Whitney wrote the foreword for *[My Awakening](/source/My_Awakening%3A_A_Path_to_Racial_Understanding)* (1998), an autobiography by [David Duke](/source/David_Duke), a [white nationalist](/source/White_nationalism) politician and former National Director of the [Knights of the Ku Klux Klan](/source/Ku_Klux_Klan). In the book, Duke uses [scientific racism](/source/Scientific_racism) to push for the [re-segregation](/source/School_segregation_in_the_United_States) of schools. Whitney did not specifically endorse Duke's re-segregation plan, but described Duke as "a Moses-like prophet".[4] Whitney compared Duke to [Socrates](/source/Socrates), [Galileo](/source/Galileo_Galilei), and [Newton](/source/Isaac_Newton) and said the [NAACP](/source/NAACP) and other "front organisations" had been created to further Jewish interests.[11]

Whitney said in a 1999 interview that the controversy distracted from what was meant to be a scientific discussion, saying "races are different for many genetic systems that influence everything from behavior and psychology to physiology, medicine and sports [...] Screaming nasty words does not change the reality."[4] Following the publication of the book, faculty and students of FSU condemned Whitney's comments, with some calling for his resignation. The school rejected Whitney's position, but defended his right to teach as a matter of [academic freedom](/source/Academic_freedom). Whitney's views regarding race and intelligence prompted the [Florida Senate](/source/Florida_Senate) to pass Resolution 2742 in 1999, "condemning the racism and bigotry espoused by Florida State University Professor Glayde Whitney."[4]

Whitney acknowledged the scientific achievements of Jews, but accused "organized Jewry" of playing a prominent role in suppressing race behavioral genetics in response to [racism](/source/Racism) directed toward them, resulting in a "dishonest and hypocritical version of [egalitarianism](/source/Egalitarianism)."

Whitney was a member of the [Institute for Historical Review](/source/Institute_for_Historical_Review), an organization promoting [Holocaust revisionism](/source/Holocaust_revisionism), making a case that Jews invented the [Holocaust](/source/The_Holocaust) for their own benefit.[11]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-foreword_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-foreword_1-1) Whitney, Glayde. [Foreword](http://www.prometheism.net/articles/foreword.html)[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*], in: [Duke, David Ernest](/source/David_Duke) (2000). *My Awakening: a Path to Racial Understanding*. Covington, LA: Free Speech Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-892796-00-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-892796-00-7).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-achems_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-achems_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-achems_2-2) ["Glayde Whitney"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070822224933/http://www.achems.org/i4a/pages/Index.cfm?pageID=3298). *Homepage*. Association for Chemoreception Sciences. Archived from [the original](http://www.achems.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3298) on August 22, 2007. Retrieved August 22, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["25th Annual Meeting"](http://bga.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/1995_BGA-Richmond-1995.pdf) (PDF). *Behavior Genetics Association*. 1995. p. 2.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-salon_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-salon_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-salon_4-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-salon_4-3) Chris Colin (April 26, 1999). ["Reading genes in black and white"](https://www.salon.com/1999/06/25/genetics/). *Salon Books*. Retrieved August 22, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Loehlin, John](/source/John_C._Loehlin) (April 1, 2009). ["History of behavior genetics"](https://books.google.com/books?id=T3P_SLtfIN0C&q=crusio+%22glayde+whitney%22&pg=PA11). In Kim, Yong-Kyu (ed.). *Handbook of Behavior Genetics*. Berlin: Springer. pp. 3–11. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-387-76726-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-387-76726-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Holden, C. (1995). "Specter at the Feast". *[Science](/source/Science_(journal))*. **269** (5220): 35. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1126/science.269.5220.35-a](https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.269.5220.35-a). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [17787698](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17787698).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Butler_7-0)** Butler D. (November 1995). ["Geneticist quits in protest at 'genes and violence' claim"](https://doi.org/10.1038%2F378224b0). *[Nature](/source/Nature_(journal))*. **378** (6554): 224. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1995Natur.378R.224B](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1995Natur.378R.224B). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/378224b0](https://doi.org/10.1038%2F378224b0). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [7477332](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7477332). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [4307645](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4307645).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-shun_8-0)** Holden, C. (November 1995). "Behavior geneticists shun colleague". *Science*. **270** (5239): 1125. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1126/science.270.5239.1123](https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.270.5239.1123). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [240768468](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:240768468).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Heath, Andrew C. (1995). ["The 25th Annual Meeting of the Behavior Genetics Association, Richmond, Virginia"](https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF02327582). *Behavior Genetics*. **25** (6): 589–590. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/BF02327582](https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF02327582). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [145019295](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:145019295).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Panofsky, Aaron (2014). *Misbehaving Science. Controversy and the Development of Behavior Genetics*. Chicago: [University of Chicago Press](/source/University_of_Chicago_Press). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-226-05831-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-226-05831-3).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Tucker151_11-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Tucker151_11-1) Tucker, William H. (2009). [*The Cattell Controversy: Race, Science, and Ideology*](https://books.google.com/books?id=L0cSfmwRrpQC&pg=PA151). University of Illinois. p. 151. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780252092671](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780252092671).

## Further reading

- Jackson, John P. (2005). *Science for Segregation: Race, Law, and the Case against Brown v. Board of Education*. [NYU Press](/source/New_York_University). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8147-4271-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8147-4271-6). - Lay summary in: ["Book Review: Science for Segregation: Race, Law, and the Case Against Brown v. Board of Education"](http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/lhr/25.2/br_19.html). *History Cooperative*.

- [Tucker, William H.](/source/William_H._Tucker_(psychologist)) (2007). *The funding of scientific racism: Wickliffe Draper and the Pioneer Fund*. [University of Illinois Press](/source/University_of_Illinois_Press). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-252-07463-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-252-07463-9).

## External links

- [Glayde Whitney](https://psy.fsu.edu/php/about/history/gallery/whitney.html) at Florida State University

- [Biographical links about Glayde Whitney collected by ISAR](https://web.archive.org/web/20110517010534/http://www.ferris.edu/isar/bios/whitney/)

- [Obituary](https://web.archive.org/web/20070822224933/http://www.achems.org/i4a/pages/Index.cfm?pageID=3298), [Association for Chemoreception Sciences](/source/Association_for_Chemoreception_Sciences)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Glayde Whitney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glayde_Whitney) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glayde_Whitney?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.