website birth_place birth_date known_for spouse image article_title education birth_name occupation alma_mater
-lsb- http://jeffreywigand.com jeffreywigand.com -rsb- new york 17 december 1942 whistleblower on the tobacco industry hope elizabeth may jeffrey wigand -lrb- 178631094 -rrb- . jpg jeffrey wigand
 ma and phd jeffrey s. wigand expert witness , consultant university at buffalo
jeffrey wigand

jeffrey s. wigand -lrb- ; born 17 december 1942 -rrb- is an american former vice president of research and development at brown & williamson in louisville , kentucky , who worked on the development of reduced-harm cigarettes .
he currently lectures around the world as an expert witness and consultant for various tobacco issues , and devotes time to his non-profit organization `` smoke-free kids inc '' , an organization that attempts to help children of all ages make better decisions and healthy choices regarding tobacco use .
wigand became nationally known as a whistleblower on february 4 , 1996 when he appeared on the cbs news program `` 60 minutes '' and stated that brown & williamson had intentionally manipulated its tobacco blend to increase the amount of nicotine in cigarette smoke .
wigand claimed that he was subsequently harassed and received anonymous death threats .
wigand discussed the death threats in an interview .
he was portrayed by russell crowe in the 1999 film `` the insider '' directed by michael mann , which also stars al pacino and christopher plummer .
