Robert A. Whitney is an American veterinarian and public health administrator. He served as acting Surgeon General of the United States

Surgeon General of the United States

The Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government...

 from July to September 1993.

Biography

Whitney was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...

. He received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Oklahoma State University in 1959 and his master's in pharmacology

Pharmacology

Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...

 from Ohio State University

Ohio State University

The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...

 in 1965. Whitney is a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho

Alpha Gamma Rho

Alpha Gamma Rho is a social-professional fraternity in the United States, with 75 university chapters including chapter in Mindanao State University, Philippines...

 fraternity, initiated at Oklahoma State University.

A career United States Public Health Service

United States Public Health Service

The Public Health Service Act of 1944 structured the United States Public Health Service as the primary division of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare , which later became the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The PHS comprises all Agency Divisions of Health and...

 officer, Whitney was appointed deputy surgeon general September 1, 1992. Since 1971, he held a number of positions of increasing responsibility in the National Institutes of Health

National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...

. From 1989 to 1992, he was director of the NIH National Center for Research Resources

National Center for Research Resources

The National Center for Research Resources or NCRR, is a United States government agency. NCRR provides funding to laboratory scientists and researchers for facilities and tools in the goal of curing and treating diseases.-Organization and history:...

.

Prior to joining PHS

PHS

-General:*Pallister-Hall syndrome, a genetic disorder*Peninsula Humane Society, an animal welfare organization in San Mateo County, California* Pennsylvania Horticultural Society promotes horticulture-related events and community activities, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.*Personal...

, Whitney was director of the U.S. Army training program in laboratory animal medicine and served a year in Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 (1970) as commander of a veterinary medical

Veterinary medicine

Veterinary Medicine is the branch of science that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury in non-human animals...

 detachment.

Whitney is a diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine and served as chief veterinary officer of the Public Health Service from 1985-1989. His awards include U.S. Public Health Service Distinguished Service Medal and the Legion of Merit

Legion of Merit

The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...

from the for his US Army service.