Obituary of Alan Cochran Whitmore

 Alan Cochran Whitmore, PhD, died from a pulmonary embolism on August 26, 2024, at his home in Carrboro, NC. He was 75 years old. He is survived by his wife, Sarah “Sallie” Peoples Whitmore, sister Jean Whitmore Carter of Raleigh and her husband Mike, brother Rob Whitmore of Charlotte and his wife Nancy, nephew Brooks Whitmore of Charlotte and his wife Bess and their daughter Sophie, niece Sarah Whitmore of Austin, TX, aunt Vera Lee Cochran Gaskins of Swansboro, NC, and many cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents John Crowder “Jack” Whitmore and Susie Cochran Whitmore.

Alan was born in Wilmington, DE, on April 5, 1949. His family moved to Kinston with DuPont in 1960. He was a graduate of Kinston High School, Class of 1967. He attended UNC-Chapel Hill for his undergraduate and graduate degrees and received his BS in Chemistry in 1971 and his PhD in Immunogenetics in 1977. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

He began his post-doctoral professional career in 1977 at Duke University, primarily in the Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology. In 1984 he returned to UNC-CH and was there for the rest of his professional career, retiring in 2019. During those years he was in the Dept. of Microbiology, the School of Dentistry, and the Carolina Vaccine Institute, and served on the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, which was tasked with reviewing every protocol using vertebrate animals. For the last several years of his career he was part of the Collaborative Cross on research mice, which involved working with other scientists at UNC-CH and around the world. He also co-authored 50+ research papers in refereed journals.

In 1982 he began a 16-year association with the Carnivore Preservation Trust, now Carolina Tiger Rescue, serving on the CPT Board of Directors and as Treasurer.

Sometime in the 1990s Alan became interested in amateur high-powered rocketry, these being rockets that, if one completed the required certifications, could be launched high enough so that FAA clearance was required. He completed those certifications, and designed, built and launched many rockets over the course of 25+ years. He was a member of Tripoli Rocketry Association, Inc., and chair of the Motor Testing Committee. He authored two hard-copy editions of Performance Evaluation of Experimental Rocket Propellants, in 2004 and 2007. Subsequent updates have been on-line.

One of Alan’s greatest pleasures was working with undergraduate engineering students who were interested in rocketry. He advised and mentored teams from area universities, including Duke, North Carolina A&T, and NC State. He and his teams attended national competitions at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL, the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, and White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Alan also taught one-on-one classes in manufacturing homemade rocket fuels, with an emphasis on safety.

Alan loved Sallie and his family, and they loved him. He had a host of friends; he mentored many up-and-coming scientists and rocketeers. He read widely and could talk to nearly anyone about nearly anything.

A remembrance of Alan will be held on Sunday, October 6, 2024, at 2 p.m., at Walker’s Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 11680 US Hwy 15-501 N, Chapel Hill, NC 27517. Memorial donations may be made to Tripoli Rocketry Association, Inc., PO Box 87, Bellevue, NE 68005.