Dr. Joseph Whittaker (co-PI, Alliance liaison from Morgan State University and Interim Vice Chair of the Alliance) is Dean of the School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences. He received his B.S. degree in Biology from Morgan State University in1982, and his Ph.D. in Physiology and Biophysics in1988 from Howard University, where he began research in the areas of electrophysiology and mechanisms of brainstem respiratory control.
He was a postdoctoral fellow for three years at the University of Tennessee, Memphis. Dr. Whittaker subsequently joined the faculty of Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) in Atlanta, GA, where he served over 14 years in the Departments of Anatomy & Neurobiology and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences.
While at MSM, he was instrumental in pioneering the development of the Neuroscience Institute. He is also an active member in the Society of Neuroscience and has served or continues to serve on several national scientific review panels and committees. Dr. Whittaker was recently named President-Elect of the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society.