Stanley and Regina Wilkinson
Stanley and Regina Wilkinson left a gift that created a new laboratory that combines engineering and health research, and helps researchers to find treatments for musculoskeletal diseases.
Stanley (BSc Electrical Engineering, 1944; MSc Electrical Engineering, 1947) wasn’t a man of many words or natural fervour. Yet when he was introduced as a child to some basic circuitry and radio transmitting equipment, he discovered his lifetime passion. He would later go on to study Electrical Engineering at Birmingham and spend most of his life in higher education as a lecturer on his favourite subject.
As someone who graduated during the Second World War, Stanley was permitted to continue his studies but sadly only able to graduate ‘in absentia’. Nevertheless, Stanley clearly remembers his time at Birmingham fondly.
Stanley passed away in 2009 but not before making a number of general bequests to charities for which he cared about, including a generous gift to the University of Birmingham. When his wife, Regina, died in 2023, the University gratefully received Stanley’s gift which sought to support research and teaching in the School of Engineering.
The gift will help develop a new laboratory which combines expertise in healthcare technologies and engineering biology. Specifically, it will help Birmingham researchers to find treatments for musculoskeletal diseases which are the most prevalent cause of chronic disability, impacting one in four individuals in the UK. Thanks to the generosity of Stanley and Regina, this long sought after research space can be created, with cutting edge equipment, that will greatly improve outcomes for people suffering from musculoskeletal diseases.
Honouring Stanley and Regina in the new lab
Opening of the new laboratory
Dr Russell Walshaw, a relative of Stanley and executor of Stanley and Regina’s estate, is delighted that this legacy to the University will help in many ways: encouraging the education of science and engineering students, advancing the research of brilliant academics and helping the treatment and recovery of people suffering from chronic disability.
Having known my father’s cousin, Stanley, since I was eight years old, I am delighted to be the instrument through which this legacy is passed on to the University of Birmingham. He was an inspiring man and introduced me at an early age to the joys of engineering, especially electrical engineering, as well as radio transmission and reception. I know that he was an inspiring teacher during his illustrious career, which was clearly nurtured during his days at Birmingham.
The School of Engineering is very grateful to Stanley and Regina for supporting today’s students and academics, and is determined that their gift and the new research laboratory will greatly enhance future research at Birmingham, as well as patient outcomes for this generation and the next.