Gilkey received his BS and MA from Yale University in spring 1967 and received his Ph. D. from Harvard University in spring 1972. His thesis advisor was L. Nirenberg of New York University. He began teaching in fall 1971 at N.Y.U. His date of hire at the University of Oregon was 1 July 1981 and he retired from the University of Oregon 30 June 2021 after 40 years service at the UO and after 50 years teaching. He is currently Professor Emeritus at the UO. He received a Faculty Excellence Award from the UO (1986), the Westling Leadership Award from the UO (2002), and was appointed a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (2013). He has published a number of Research Papers and Expository Articles and has many Co-authors. Youtube 2009
To rest on the blue of the day, like an eagle rests on the wind,
over the cold range, confident on its wings and its breadth.
Only in silence, the word; only in dark, the light; only in the dying, life; bright the hawk's flight on the empty sky.