Dr. George Robert Gilkey was born January 4, 1919, in Waynetown, Indiana, to Nellie (Livengood) and Manning
Gilkey. Gilkey died February 9, 2010, in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Dr. Gilkey received his Bachelor of Arts degree at De Pauw University
and completed his studies at Northwestern University with M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in modern European history, specializing in Italian
emigration. Dr. Gilkey taught at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls between 1951
and 1954. 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 from 1960 to 1970, Dr. Gilkey expanded the
history 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 served on the Board of Directors for the Mississippi Valley Archaeological Society, La Crosse
Lutheran Hospital, and the Gundersen Lutheran Foundation. He was also a founding member of the Gundersen Lutheran Heritage Society, the first
state representative for the National Society for historic Preservation, and sat on the editorial advisory board for the publication,
Chiropractic History: the Archives and Journal of the Association for the History of Chiropractic.
