Edwin C. Whitehead; Scientist, Philanthropist

Edwin C. Whitehead, 72, a philanthropist and developer of scientific equipment who with his father founded Technicon Corp. in 1939. The company created a more accurate and easier-to-read electrocardiograph, the first device to automate the reading of microscope slides and the first portable respirator. Whitehead sold Technicon to Revlon in 1980 for $400 million and established an investment firm. In 1982, Whitehead established the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, one of the world’s top biomedical research institutions. It is affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Whitehead started the institute--one of the largest in history to be privately funded--with $7.5 million, then added $35 million for construction costs and finally a $100-million pledge with $5 million to be given each year and the balance from a trust after his death. In Greenwich, Conn., on Feb. 2 of a heart attack.