Wheelock Whitney, Jr.

Wheelock Whitney, Jr.
Born	July 30, 1926 Portland, Maine United States
Residence	Independence, Minnesota
Education	Phillips Academy, Yale University
Occupation	Investment banker, educator, sports team owner/executive, philanthropist, politician, racehorse owner
Political party	Republican
Board member of	Johnson Institute Minnesota Twins Minnesota Vikings
Spouse(s)	1) Irene Hixon (d. 1986) 2) Penny Lewis (div. 1994) 3) Kathleen A. Blatz
Children	Wheelock III, Pennell, Joseph, Benson
Parent(s)	Wheelock Whitney & Katharine Kimball
Honors	Minnesota Business Hall of Fame (2000) Finance magazine's Investment Banker of the Year (1971)

Wheelock "Whee" Whitney, Jr. (born July 30, 1926), is a Minneapolis businessman, educator, sports team executive and owner, philanthropist^[1] and politician who attended Phillips Andover and Yale University with George H.W. Bush.^[2] He and Bush were both members of Delta Kappa Epsilon at Yale. Whitney was a successful investment banker from 1957 until 1972, when he left the industry to teach at the Carlson School of Business.

Whitney was the 1964 Republican nominee for U.S. Senate from Minnesota, losing to Eugene McCarthy, and the Republican nominee for governor of Minnesota in 1982,^[3] losing to Rudy Perpich.

Whitney married Irene Hixon on August 21, 1948. They provided aid to Vernon Johnson, who pioneered the method of using an intervention to confront alcoholics and substance abusers so as to get them professional help for their addictions. They created the Johnson Institute after Johnson helped Irene Whitney through an intervention. Irene Whitney died of lung cancer in 1986. In 1990 Whitney married Penny Lewis, a professional horse trainer, from whom he was divorced in 1994. In 2005, he married Kathleen A. Blatz, the former Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Sports executive

Whitney helped obtain the Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball franchise for the state. He served on the team's Board of Directors from 1961 to 1985. Whitney was also part of the successful effort to obtain a National Hockey League franchise for the city of Bloomington, Minnesota. The team, the Minnesota North Stars, were founded in 1967 and played at the Met Center, which Whitney helped get built. He was also a part-owner and president of the Minnesota Vikings football team for a number of years.^[4]

Whitney has been involved with the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing for many years. His best-known horse was Quicken Tree, a California runner in the 1960s whose wins included the Santa Anita Handicap and the Jockey Club Gold Cup.^[5]

References

1. Biographical notes retrieved in 2008
2. Article from English-language Norwegian paper Aftenposten
3. Listing at Political Graveyard website
4. 'ibid'
5. PedigreeQuery website listing