The William H. Wheeler Center was established at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1986, in honor of the late Mr. Wheeler, co-founder and former chairman and CEO of AirWick Industries. The selection of UTC to receive the endowment establishing the center was made by Frank Wheeler Conkling, nephew of Mr. Wheeler and executor of the Wheeler estate. Mr. Conkling, retired chairman of CEO of AirWick Industries, is an alumnus of the University of Chattanooga. When it was first established, the center was run by director Thomas A. Orofino, a current board member.
The Wheeler Center, operating under the auspices of the University of Chattanooga Foundation and the College of Arts and Sciences, is administered by a board of directors representing UTC and leaders in the community. The UTC members include the department heads of biology, chemistry, physics, and psychology, and the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who serves as board chairman.
The objectives of the center are to conduct broad research and technology development through broad interdisciplinary approaches and to further education in the field of odors, aromas, and odor modification. The center is currently studying psychological responses to odors. Additional programs are being conducted on chemical structure-odor relationships and through planned courses and conferences in such applicable fields as cosmetics and fragrances.
Specific programs include: investigations of how odor preferences, color preferences, and personality profiles may be associated; analysis of how odor descriptions from different human response criteria compare; interactions of odor quality and intensity.
