Obituary of Willis Whitfield (1919-2012)
DEC 10, 2012
DOI: 10.1063/PT.4.1481
Willis Whitfield, the inventor of the modern laminar-flow cleanroom, died on November 12, 2012, from prostate cancer. Dubbed ‘Mr. Clean’ for the success of his invention, which reached sales of $50 billion just a few years after he made it public, Whitfield was a longtime employee of Sandia National Laboratories.
Born in Rosedale, Oklahoma in 1919, Whitfield served in the Navy during World War II and received bachelor’s degrees in physics and math from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. He is survived by his wife, Belva; their sons, James and Joe; his sister, Amy Blackburn; and his brother, Lawrence.
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
