Gerald Wilkinson

Gerald S. Wilkinson is a Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Graduate Education in the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) at the University of Maryland. He holds a B.S. from the University of California, Davis (1977) and a Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego (1984). His research focuses on the evolution of social behavior, genomic conflict, sexual selection, and aging mechanisms in animals, using stalk-eyed flies and bats as model systems. He has pioneered studies on vampire bat food-sharing reciprocity and discovered meiotic drive's role in shaping sexual selection.

Wilkinson's work integrates genetics, behavior, and ecology, with recent emphasis on epigenetic aging and X chromosome drive. He leads the Wilkinson Lab, which has produced over 200 publications, including landmark studies in Nature, Science, and Proceedings of the Royal Society. He has mentored numerous graduate students and postdocs, many of whom hold academic positions globally.

Wilkinson has received prestigious awards, including the Searle Scholar Award (1988), Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2011), and the Gerrit Miller Award (2019). His research is funded by the NIH and NSF, focusing on bat longevity, DNA methylation aging clocks, and genomic conflict in stalk-eyed flies.