Gilkey, George R.

Dr. George Robert Gilkey was born January 4, 1919, in Waynetown, Indiana. Gilkey died February 9, 2010, in La Crosse, Wisconsin. In 1954, he began teaching at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse where he eventually became the chairman of the history department. Dr. Gilkey retired as emeritus professor of history in 1983. As its chairman of the history department from 1960 to 1970, Dr. Gilkey expanded the department from about eight to over 20 professors. Also during his tenure at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Dr. Gilkey published The First Seventy Years: A History of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 1909-1979, the first public institutional history of UW-L. He also published on Italian subjects, primarily migration and repatriation between Italy and the United States, with his last publication being From Pennsylvania to Italy: The Letters of Angelo di Angelantonio. Dr. Gilkey was an active community member and sat on the editorial advisory board for the publication, Chiropractic History: the Archives and Journal of the Association for the History of Chiropractic.