Robert Arthur Whitney, Jr. (born July 27, 1935) is an American veterinarian and public health administrator.

A career United States Public Health Service officer, Whitney was appointed deputy surgeon general on September 1, 1992.

Prior to joining the PHS, Whitney was director of the U.S. Army training program in laboratory animal medicine and served a year in South Vietnam (1970) as commander of a veterinary medical detachment.

He retired from the USPHS in 1994, and co-founded "Earthspan", a non-profit organization dedicated to advanced technologies to conserve biodiversity, ecosystems, and environmental health.

Whitney is a diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine and served as chief veterinary officer of the Public Health Service from 1985 to 1989.