Chris Whittle - History

History

Whittle was born in Etowah, Tennessee. After graduating from the University of Tennessee with a major in American Studies, Whittle started the magazine Knoxville in a Nutshell with Phillip Moffitt and others. 13-30 Corporation in Knoxville. In 1979 13-30 bought Esquire magazine, where Whittle served as chairman and publisher for a number of years. In 1986, 13-30 became Whittle Communications, which was one of America’s top 100 media companies in the late 1980’s - known for creating and publishing single-advertiser magazines that were placed in medical office waiting rooms. In 1989, Whittle Communications launched Channel One News, a national in-school television news program (first anchored by Anderson Cooper). Channel One News’ programming reached eight million students daily in 12,000 schools and won the Peabody Award. Whittle sold the company in 1994.

He is the author of Crash Course: Imagining a Better Future for Public Education, published in 2005, and wrote a chapter on the rise of global schooling for Customized Schooling: Beyond Whole-School Reform, published by Harvard Education Press in 2011. Whittle sits on the board of the Center for Education Reform in Washington, D.C. In October 2010 he received an “accomplished alumnus” award from the University of Tennessee, his alma mater, where he has funded over 180 full scholarships.