Doris Y. Wilkinson, a trailblazer for racial desegregation at the University of Kentucky, has died. “Dr.
Doris Wilkinson was powerful, influential and, at times, larger than life,” President Eli Capilouto said in a Monday statement. “It is with deep sadness that I learn of her passing, but I am comforted in knowing that her legacy continues to run deep across the foundation of our community. Throughout her life, she faced adversity with the kind of fierce determination and unwavering grace that pushed open doors and ensured they never closed.
” Wilkinson died Saturday night in Lexington. Born in 1936 in Lexington, Wilkinson attended Dunbar High School, the high school for Black students at the time. She was the among the first Black undergraduate students to attend and graduate from UK, earning her bachelor’s in sociology in 1958.
She went on to become the first Black woman given a full-time faculty position at UK, and served as the director for the African American Heritage in the Department of Sociology, according to Wilkinson was honored nationally for her research on race and ethnicity, organizational sociology and medical sociology, according to Herald-Leader stories. A sociologist, Wilkinson’s research looked at critical race theory and the sociology of health and illness. “We are grateful to be beneficiaries of her goodness and intellect, her perseverance and drive, her passion for education and devotion to progress,” Capilouto said.
“Dr. Wilkinson’s.
