Jeffrey Wigand

Jeffrey Wigand
Jeffrey S. Wigand
Born December 17, 1942 (1942-12-17) (age 68)
New York
Education Master's & PhD, State University of New York at Buffalo
Occupation Expert witness, consultant
Known for Whistleblower on the tobacco industry
Website
JeffreyWigand.com

Jeffrey S. Wigand (play /ˈwɡænd/; born December 17, 1942) is a former vice president of research and development at Brown & Williamson in Louisville, Kentucky, who worked on the development of reduced-harm cigarettes. He lectures around the world as an expert witness and consultant for various tobacco issues, and devotes time to his non-profit organization Smoke-Free Kids Inc, an organization that attempts to help children of all ages make better decisions and healthy choices regarding tobacco use.

Wigand became nationally known as a whistleblower regarding the company's decisions involving the selection of ingredients in their cigarettes when on February 4, 1996 on the CBS news program 60 Minutes, he stated Brown & Williamson intentionally manipulates the tobacco blend to increase the amount of nicotine in cigarette smoke, thereby increasing the 'impact' to the smoker. Nicotine is a naturally occurring substance in tobacco that is widely held to be responsible for the habit-forming and addictive effects of cigarette smoking. Wigand claims that he was subsequently harassed and received anonymous death threats. Wigand discusses the death threats in an interview. [1]

He was portrayed by Russell Crowe in the 1999 film The Insider directed by Michael Mann, which also stars Al Pacino and Christopher Plummer.

Contents

Biography

Jeffrey Wigand was born in New York and grew up in the Bronx and later Pleasant Valley, New York. After a brief time in the military (including a short assignment in Vietnam), he earned a Master's and PhD from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He met his first wife Linda in 1970 while attending a judo class.

Prior to working for Brown and Williamson, Wigand worked for several health care companies; including Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. In addition, he was employed as General Manager and Marketing Director at Union Carbide in Japan, and as Senior Vice President at Technicon Instruments.

Wigand began to work for Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation in January 1989 and was fired on March 24, 1993. He claimed that he was fired because he knew that high-ranking corporate executives knowingly approved the addition of additives to their cigarettes that were known to be carcinogenic and/or addictive.[2] Following this he taught chemistry and Japanese at duPont Manual Magnet High School in Louisville, Kentucky, and was eventually named 1996 Teacher of the Year for the state of Kentucky.

Wigand no longer teaches high school and instead lectures worldwide to a variety of audiences including children, college students, medical and law students and policy makers. He has consulted with the governments throughout the world on tobacco control policies (the list includes Canada, The Netherlands, Scotland, Israel, Italy, Malta, Germany, France, Ireland, Iceland, Japan). Wigand is currently married to Hope Elizabeth May, an American philosopher, author and lawyer [3] who is a professor at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, where Wigand now resides. He is a member of the Mount Pleasant Board of Education.[4]

See also

References

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Jeffrey Wigand — Jeffrey S. Wigand (* 17. Dezember 1942 in New York City) war Vize Präsident der Abteilung für Forschung und Entwicklung von „Brown Williamson“, einem Tabakkonzern der British American Tobacco. Er war für die Entwicklung einer vermeintlich… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Jeffrey Wigand — Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (né le 17 décembre 1942, à New York) est surtout connu comme dénonciateur des méfaits de l industrie du tabac. Ancien vice président responsable de la recherche et du développement du fabricant de cigarettes américain, la Brown …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jeffrey Wigand — Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (n. 7 de diciembre de 1942, Ciudad de Nueva York) fue vice presidente de investigación y desarrollo en Brown Williamson en Louisville, Kentucky. Actualmente reside en Mt. Pleasant, Míchigan donde ocupa su tiempo y esfuerzo en… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Jeffrey S. Wigand — (* 17. Dezember 1942 in New York City) war Vize Präsident der Abteilung für Forschung und Entwicklung von „Brown Williamson“, einem Tabakkonzern der British American Tobacco. Er war für die Entwicklung einer vermeintlich „gesünderen“ Zigarette… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wigand — ist der Name von Wigand von Marburg, mittelalterlicher Chronist Albert Wigand (1821−1886), deutscher Botaniker Albert Wigand (1890−1978), deutscher Zeichner, Collagist und Maler Arpad Wigand (1906−1983), deutscher SS Oberführer, SS und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wigand (surname) — Wigand is a surname, and may refer to:*Jeffrey Wigand (born 1942), whistleblower toward the tobacco industry …   Wikipedia

  • The Insider (film) — Infobox Film name = The Insider caption = The Insider theatrical poster director =Michael Mann producer = Pieter Jan Brugge Michael Mann writer =Marie Brenner Eric Roth Michael Mann starring =Al Pacino Russell Crowe Christopher Plummer Diane… …   Wikipedia

  • Brown & Williamson — was an American tobacco company and subsidiary of the giant British American Tobacco, that produced several popular cigarette brands. It became infamous as the focus of investigations for chemically enhancing the addictiveness of cigarettes. Its… …   Wikipedia

  • Brown \x26 Williamson — Brown Williamson Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Brown Williamson fue una empresa estadounidense de tabaco filial de British American Tobacco, que produce varias marcas populares de cigarrillos. Se hizo impopular como centro de investigaciones para …   Wikipedia Español

  • Insider (Film) — Filmdaten Deutscher Titel Insider Originaltitel The Insider Produktionslan …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”