[4] His thesis was titled The effect of involvement on similarity and preference structures.

[5] Wilkinson wrote SYSTAT, a statistical software package, in the early 1980s.

This program was noted for its comprehensive graphics,[6] including the first software implementation of the heatmap display now widely used among biologists.

[12] In 2016, he became a chief scientist at H2O.ai to lead a data visualization push;[13] he remained in that role until his death in 2021.

[12] Wilkinson married Reverend Ruth Elaine VanDemark on June 23, 1967.

[4] Wilkinson received the National Institute of Statistical Sciences Distinguished Service Award in 2010.