Dr. Whitman is currently Dean of the Donaghey College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock where he was previously Dean of the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology. He is a Professor of Engineering at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He has experience in both industry and academia and uses an applied approach in his current academic role. He earned his Bachelors’ degree in Mechanical Engineering Design Technology from Oklahoma State University where he also earned his Master of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management. He then spent ten years in the aerospace industry as a practicing engineer in Texas where he earned his Professional Engineers license. He joined the Automation & Robotics Research Institute (ARRI) of the University of Texas at Arlington working with local aerospace industry on projects. He earned his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington. He then joined the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at Wichita State University as an Assistant Professor in 1999 where he progressed through the ranks of Associate Professor and Professor. He served as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education for the College of Engineering at Wichita State University for three years. He has received external funding through the National Science Foundation and from industry partners. Dr. Whitman’s primary research areas are in Lean Systems, Enterprise Engineering and Engineering Education.
Dr. Whitman has over 100 publications which have been cited over 850 times and served as treasurer for the Arkansas STEM Coalition. He has served as guest editor of Data & Knowledge Engineering Journal and as session chair at numerous conferences. He was previously chair of Technical Committee 5.3 Enterprise Integration and Networking of the International Federation of Automatic Control and on the Board of Directors of the Industrial Engineering Division of the American Society for Engineering Education.
