Jesse Ernest Wilkins Jr. (November 27, 1923 – May 1, 2011)[1] was an American nuclear scientist, mechanical engineer and mathematician.

[6] Wilkins had a widely varied career, spanning seven decades and including significant contributions to pure and applied mathematics, civil and nuclear engineering, and optics.

He wrote numerous scientific papers, served in various important posts, earned several significant awards and helped recruit minority students into the sciences.

[3] His thesis was titled Multiple Integral Problems in Parametric Form in the Calculus of Variations, and was advised by Magnus Hestenes.

When Edward Teller was informed about this, he wrote a letter on September 18, 1944, to Harold Urey (who was the director of war research at Columbia at the time) of Wilkins's abilities, informing him about the issue caused by local reactions to Wilkins's race, and recommending his services for a new position.

[13] As Teller explained: Knowing that men of high qualifications are scarce these days, I thought that it might be useful that I suggest a capable person for this job.

[2][4] He would also later help design and develop nuclear reactors for electrical power generation, becoming part owner of one such company.

[2][17] Throughout his years of research Wilkins published more than 100 papers on a variety of subjects, including differential geometry, linear differential equations, integrals, nuclear engineering, gamma radiation shielding and optics, garnering numerous professional and scientific awards along the way.