Glayde Whitney, 62; Author of Controversial Theory on Race, Genes

Glayde Whitney, 62, a Florida State University psychology professor who generated controversy by writing that blacks by nature are generally less intelligent than whites, died of natural causes Wednesday in Tallahassee, Fla.

A researcher of genetic mechanisms underlying behavior, Whitney wrote the foreword to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke’s 1999 book “My Awakening.” Calling Duke a “seeker of truth,” Whitney said blacks on average have lower intelligence and more natural aggression.

Unlike environmental psychologists, who believe that intelligence has more to do with living conditions than race, Whitney contended that most blacks are destined to fail and that science proves it.

The Tallahassee branch of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People urged that Whitney be fired, but university officials took no action against the tenured professor. University President Talbot Sandy D’Alemberte called Whitney’s opinion on race obnoxious and wrong but defended his right to express it.