Wilkinson won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge at the age of 16. He won the Pemberton Prize for the most outstanding freshman in any subject and the Mathison Prize as the most outstanding third-year man in any subject. Like many others who came to join NPL’s budding computer work, Wilkinson originally worked at the Ministry of Supply, until 1946.

Wilkinson was appointed to the Maths Division in 1946 as both Turing’s assistant and as a numerical analysis researcher. He worked on the original Test Assembly and led the ACE group after Turing left for Cambridge in 1947, and was seconded to the Electronics Division for work on the Pilot ACE.

He became a world leader in numerical analysis, winning many awards and fellowships, publishing successful books and generally being recognised as an expert in his field.

1919-1986