Uncas A. Whitaker
Co-founder 1941Background
Uncas A. Whitaker invented a solderless electrical terminal that eliminated the need for soldering in electrical connections, improving assembly speed and reliability for aircraft manufacturing during World War II. On September 15, 1941, in a room above a small Greek restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Whitaker and George Ingalls founded Aircraft-Marine Products Company (AMP Incorporated) to commercialize the invention. AMP grew rapidly supplying the US military and aerospace industry during the war, then expanded into the broader postwar industrial economy, becoming one of the world's largest electrical-connector manufacturers over the following decades -- the direct ancestor of today's TE Connectivity. Tyco International acquired AMP in 1999 for about $11.3 billion in stock, and Tyco's electronics division was ultimately spun off as TE Connectivity. Whitaker held dozens of patents beyond the original solderless terminal and remained personally involved in AMP's engineering culture for decades, establishing a technical-innovation-first identity that persisted through the company's later Tyco ownership and eventual TE Connectivity spin-off. He died in 1975, having built AMP into a company with global manufacturing operations and tens of thousands of employees.