Whitey Kuhn, along with Dale Wittenborn, founded Kuhn & Wittenborn in 1978, following a successful seven-and-half year career with Hallmark Cards. At the time he left Hallmark, Whitey was a manager in Creative Services where he supervised a department of 55 artists and designers.

Under his and Dale’s direction, Kuhn & Wittenborn grew from a staff of three to become a full-service agency with a staff of more than 70 and annual capitalized billings of $38 million.

Whitey is committed to many philanthropical causes and has served on several nonprofit boards, including the Kansas City Chapter of Young Audiences, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City, Midwest Bioethics Center, Visiting Nurses Association, and the Advisory Boards of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research and Little Sisters of the Poor.

Whitey is a past president of the Ad Club of Kansas City and the Ad Club Foundation. In 1992, he was named Ad Club President of the Year by the American Advertising Federation (AAF) Ninth District and Ad Executive of the Year by the Kansas City Ad Club. He is a past chairman of the National AAF Conference and in 1997, Whitey received the prestigious Silver Medal Award from the AAF for his leadership and support of the Advertising Industry. He is a past member of the Agency Management Committee for the American Association of Advertising Agencies in New York. In 2003, Kuhn & Wittenborn was the national recipient of the American Business Ethics Award in the small business category, presented by the Society of Financial Services Professionals. In 2004 and 2006, Whitey was selected by the Society to serve on the National Selection Committee for the American Business Ethics Award. In 2024, he was invited to be an inaugural participant in The Kansas City Marketing Legends Podcast.

In 2020, Whitey and his wife, Fran, established The Dale Wittenborn Memorial Scholarship program in honor of his late business partner. To date, nine scholarships have been awarded to college juniors and seniors who are majoring in creative arts. Several of those recipients are now working in the Kansas City Advertising industry.

In 2015, Whitey retired after merging his agency with Trozzolo. He continues to serve on Trozzolo’s Board of Directors.

Whitey is a graduate of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, where in 1971, he received a bachelor of fine arts degree in advertising and editorial art.