Vol. 17, No. 31	May 14, 1998

Program director honored by professional association

Terry Whittaker receives the Outstanding Achiever in
Education Award, given by the Brandywine Professional Association,
from Phyllis Maxey Hill.

The Brandywine Professional Association was organized in 1981 and has a membership of approximately 250 members from the fields of education, public service, industry and entrepreneurship.

Whittaker was recognized as an educational trailblazer. He was cited for his accomplishments in establishing and developing innovative programs at the University to assist students from under-represented ethnic groups obtain degrees in business and engineering. He also has been instrumental in fundraising to support the educational and professional development of minority students.

Whittaker was involved with the Resources to Insure Successful Engineers (RISE) program, a nationally recognized minority student engineering program, from 1983 to 1987. In 1992, he developed the FORTUNE 2000 program in the College of Business and Economics, which includes pre-college initiatives and comprehensive academic support and professional development programs for UD minority students. Whittaker was instrumental in helping to raise $1.8 million for the program, and the minority enrollment in the college has risen from 4 percent in 1992 to 14 percent in 1997.

Whittaker serves on numerous civic committees and boards, including the MBNA Delaware Excellence In Education Grants Committee, the Christiana Care Center, the Forum to Advance Minorities in Engineering and the universities of Wisconsin and Minnesota alumni associations. He has chaired the Educational Division of the Delaware United Way Campaign in 1997 and 1998 and the 1995 United Negro College Fund School Campaign.

He is a member of several professional organizations and has been received many awards including the Black Alumni Association awards from the universities of Wisconsin and Minnesota, the Ivan Williamson Award from the University of Wisconsin and the INROADS/ Philadelphia Educator of the Year Award.

Photo by Morris Brown