“An Amazing Run”-Honoring Dr. Keith Wilkinson’s Contributions to Emory and GDBBS

Jamie King

Originally published November 23, 2015

Aside from celebrating the awesome student accomplishments for the year, the other highlight of the evening was honoring Dr. Keith Wilkinson as he will be stepping down from his post as Director of GDBSS. Dr. Jerry Boss began remarks about Dr. Wilkinson by describing his career here at Emory and calling his tenure as GDBBS director “an amazing run”. Faculty members Dr. Eddie Morgan and Dr. Anita Corbett described Keith as a fearless advocate, who is never afraid to make enemies as long as he is standing up for what he believes in. Another overarching theme across faculty and students was Keith’s selflessness in regards to student success. Jasmine MillerKleinhenz described Keith’s approach as “behind the scenes” help for students to ensure success by any means necessary. Keith’s investment in student success has extended beyond graduate school as well. As a result of his careful concern and acknowledgment of variable goals of students beyond graduate school, Keith has ensured students in GDBBS have access to resources to explore careers beyond academia. Over the years, Keith has also been a fierce advocate for diversity on all fronts across the faculty and graduate student population. Following remarks from faculty and students, Dean Lisa Tedesco presented Dr. Wilkinson with a beautiful piece of artwork by Peretti to symbolize the imprint he has left on GDBBS and graduate education here at Emory, as well as on the lives of alumni.