Conclusion of the Whitaker Program

Between 2011 and 2018, the Whitaker International Program supported more than 400 grants to individuals wishing to pursue Bio-Medical Engineering research opportunities outside the United States. Grants were awarded to candidates either pursuing master’s degrees and PhDs or postdocs. Alumni of the program have a combined continuing education or employment at rate of 97%, and of them, 77% remain in the BME field today.

The Whitaker Foundation always intended The Whitaker International Program to be short-lived – to serve as a trailblazer, to address a particular challenge, and not to continue into perpetuity. In the year the program was established, the field of Bio-Medical Engineering, although focused on collaboration, was rarely focused on international partnerships at an individual level. The program’s facilitation of international opportunities has led to partnerships between universities as well as the continued exchange of researchers across the globe.

The final goal of the Whitaker International Program was to create opportunities for alumni to engage and continue the program’s legacy. Recipients of the Whitaker Concluding Initiative Grant #1 are all Whitaker alumni. To view ongoing Whitaker alumni projects, please visit www.everydaybme.com. The Whitaker Concluding Initiative Grant #2 includes continued programming to support the Whitaker mission, details of which can be found on the website. Unfortunately, no further Whitaker grants will be available.