Christopher Wilkinson ’68 is the coauthor of a new book about West Virginia’s geology called Roadside Geology of West Virginia. Joseph G. Lebold, a geologist and professor at West Virginia University, cowrote the book with Wilkinson, and Maria af Rolén, a graduate of Stockholm School of Photography, provided the book’s photographs.
The book’s publisher, Mountain Press Publishing Co., describes how the authors “lead you along the roads of the Mountain State, past roadcuts exposing contorted rock layers, coral reefs, and ancient red soils.”
Although Wilkinson has no formal training in geology, his passion for the field and interest in the geologic history of West Virginia led him to collaborate with Lebold to publish Roadside Geology of Virginia.
Major: Music
Fraternity: Gryphon
Wilkinson is a musicologist, who specializes in African American musical culture, and taught music history and writing at West Virginia University’s School of Music for 37 years until his retirement in 2013.
During his time as a professor, he received WVU’s premier research honor, the Benedum Distinguished Scholar award, in 2006 for his research on the history of musical life of black West Virginians in the early 20th century.
After retirement Wilkinson, a beloved professor at WVU, even established an endowment with his wife Carroll, also a longtime faculty member at the college, to promote innovative teaching in the arts. “The Carroll Wetzel Wilkinson and Christopher Wilkinson Course Enhancement Grant for the Teaching of Creative Arts History from a Humanistic Perspective” was created to help assist faculty in developing new courses and coursework that will help students cultivate their writing skills and critical engagement in areas of the music and arts.
