Jeffrey Stephen Wigand (; born December 17, 1942) is an American biochemist and

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

. He is a former vice president of research and development at

Brown & Williamson Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation was a U.S. tobacco company and a subsidiary of multinational British American Tobacco that produced several popular cigarette brands. It became infamous as the focus of investigations for chemically enhanc ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, who worked on the development of reduced-harm cigarettes and in 1996 blew the whistle on tobacco tampering at the company. This was adapted for 1999 film '' The Insider'', with Russell Crowe portraying Wigand. He currently lectures around the world as an

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

and consultant for various tobacco issues.

Early life, military service and education

Wigand was born in New York City and grew up in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

and later

Pleasant Valley, New York Pleasant Valley is a town in Dutchess County, within the Hudson Valley of New York, United States. The population was 9,799 at the 2020 census. The town is centrally located in the county, northeast of the city of Poughkeepsie. U.S. Route 44 pa ...

. After a brief time in the military (including a short assignment in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

), he earned a

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

and a PhD from the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

in Biochemistry.

Career

Prior to working for

, Wigand worked for several health care companies, including

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

and Johnson & Johnson. In addition, he was employed as General Manager and Marketing Director at

Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befo ...

in Japan, and as a senior vice president at Technicon Instruments.

Tobacco industry whistleblowing

Wigand became nationally known as a

on February 4, 1996, when he appeared on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

news program '' 60 Minutes'' and stated that Brown & Williamson had intentionally manipulated its tobacco blend with chemicals such as

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous wa ...

to increase the effect of

nicotine Nicotine is a natural product, naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants (most predominantly in tobacco and ''Duboisia hopwoodii'') and is widely used recreational drug use, recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As ...

in cigarette smoke. According to Wigand, he was subsequently harassed and received anonymous

death threat A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a de ...

s. Wigand had begun to work for

in January 1989 and was fired on March 24, 1993. He says that he was fired as a

because he knew that high-ranking corporate executives knowingly approved the addition of additives to their cigarettes that were known to be

carcinogenic A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive subs ...

and/or addictive, such as

coumarin Coumarin () or 2''H''-chromen-2-one is an aromatic organic chemical compound with formula . Its molecule can be described as a benzene molecule with two adjacent hydrogen atoms replaced by a lactone-like chain , forming a second six-membered h ...

. Brown & Williamson undertook a concerted effort to discredit Wigand, which included hiring the

Investigative Group International Terry Falk Lenzner (August 10, 1939 – April 23, 2020) was an American attorney and founder of Investigative Group International. Biography Lenzner was born in Manhattan, the son of Eleanor (Falk), a homemaker, and Joseph Lenzner, a dentist. H ...

to produce a 500-page dossier on Wigand which was distributed to the media. However, the dossier backfired, as news outlets examined the claims in it, finding many claims of misconduct to be unsubstantiated or trivial.

Post-whistleblowing career

Following this he taught physical science, biology, and Japanese at

duPont Manual Magnet High School duPont Manual High School is a public magnet high school located in the Old Louisville neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It serves students in grades 9– 12. It is a part of the Jefferson County Public School District. DuPo ...

, 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, medical and law students and a diverse group of policy makers. He has consulted with governments throughout the world on tobacco control policies.

Media depictions

He was portrayed by Russell Crowe in the 1999 film '' The Insider'' directed by

Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include the films ''Thief'' (1981), ...

, which also stars Al Pacino and

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage, and television. He received multiple accolades, inc ...

. Crowe earned an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nomination for his portrayal of Wigand.

Personal life

He met his first wife, Linda, in 1970 while attending a judo class. Wigand is married to Hope Elizabeth May, an American philosopher, author and lawyerA Very Special Wedding
Cwmemory.com (2008-10-19). Retrieved on 2012-06-03. who is a professor at Central Michigan University in

Mount Pleasant, Michigan Mount Pleasant is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in Central Michigan, the city is the county seat of Isabella County, Michigan, Isabella County. The population was 21,688 as of the 2020 United States census. It is surrounded by Unio ...

, where he now resides.

References

External links

From Knowledge to Action: An Interview With Dr. Jeffrey Wigand
January 12, 2010

January 19, 2010
Newslaundry Interviews - Dr Jeffrey Wigand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wigand, Jeffrey American biochemists American whistleblowers American tobacco industry executives University at Buffalo alumni Businesspeople from Louisville, Kentucky American high school teachers Science teachers People from Pleasant Valley, New York People from the Bronx 1942 births Living people Brown & Williamson Scientists from New York (state) Japanese-language education in the United States