Alumnus Makes $1 Million Gift as Payback

Jim Wilkinson ’91, MS ’93, who began his WPI journey in the precollegiate program, and his wife, Patricia, recently made a $1 million commitment to the university. The manufacturing engineering major says, “WPI 100 percent supported me financially through my graduate studies as a teaching assistant, and this role perfectly prepared me for the industry in which I worked for my entire career.”

Recognized by his high school biology teacher as a hands-on learner, Wilkinson was encouraged to attend WPI’s precollegiate summer program, known today as Frontiers. “I attended that program in the summer of my junior year, and I was hooked; I knew WPI was where I wanted to go. I applied for early admission—with a design of a recumbent bicycle as part of my ‘essay’—and was accepted by Christmas of my senior year. It was the only school to which I applied,” says Wilkinson. The precollegiate program had such an impact on him, that he served as a resident advisor for the program for two summers while in undergraduate/graduate school.

Reflecting on his time on The Hill, Wilkinson says, “The WPI Plan was perfectly suited for my preferred style of learning and not only empowered me to excel technically in my profession but was a huge contributor to preparing me as a very successful manager of both projects and people. WPI has been an invaluable part of my personal and professional success. Without everything that I learned from my six years at WPI, both academically and socially, I feel like I would not have been as successful at my profession, which enabled me to retire early and allowed me to become an especially active community volunteer.”

Wilkinson began his career as a technical support engineer at Aries Technology (currently MSC Software). Next, he joined Solidworks Corporation as a support engineer and manager of technical support. “When Solidworks was purchased by and became a division of Dassault Systèmes, I became director of product engineering, working with customers and the software engineering department to design and write the specifications for the department’s implemented software.” Working his way up to vice president of user experience, he remained in that role until his 2018 retirement, completing an impressive 23-year career.

He fills his retirement days as an active volunteer in his New Hampshire community. “I am vice-chair of the Conservation Commission in Hampstead. In addition to my typical conservation commission roles of preserving land and reviewing applications impacting wetlands, etc., my primary responsibilities are mapping and maintaining trails in town. I have created GPS-enabled trail maps for all the town’s trails, which are posted online and at trailheads. Surrounding towns have taken notice of the quality of our maps, so I am now working with those towns to create maps for their trail networks as well.” He also chairs the Sunset Lake Association and is active in the Historical Society in Hampstead.

He serves on the WPI Alumni Association’s Citations Committee, selecting alumni from the global WPI community for professional achievement and service recognition each year.

Wilkinson says, “I very much appreciate that WPI has stayed true to what has enabled me to succeed in life, which is the project-based education and more personal interaction with faculty, staff, and other students. In my own personal experience and from interacting with other WPI alumni whom I have hired and/or have worked with throughout my career, the skills learned from the program are second to none for success in business and beyond.”

His newest commitment supports Beyond These Towers: The Campaign for Worcester Polytechnic Institute, advancing the university toward its most ambitious campaign goal. “With the Jim Wilkinson ’91 Endowed Scholarship, Patricia and I hope to enable future generations of students to benefit from all that WPI offers—hoping that they will also excel in their careers and personal lives, and have a positive impact on their local and global communities.”

In a message to his fellow alumni, Wilkinson shares, “I would ask that other alumni consider how WPI has contributed to their success and, if they feel it made an important contribution to their lives, that they consider making regular contributions to support the same experience for other students. It is extremely important.”