 degree in agriculture from Alabama A & M University.Upon graduation, he was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War, where he was assigned to manage a hydroponic farm in Japan to provide safe, nutritious foods for the US troops stationed there.After completing his military service, and encouraged by the scientist who interviewed him for his assignment in Japan, Whatley enrolled at Rutgers University to earn a doctorate in horticulture, which he completed in 1957.