 He is widely regarded as the father of British academic surgery.Wilkie was born on 5 November 1882 in Kirriemuir, the second son of David Wilkie, a wealthy jute manufacturer and his wife Margaret Lawson Mill.He attended Edinburgh Academy 1896 to 1899 and then studied Medicine at Edinburgh University graduating MB ChB in 1904, and being given his doctorate (MD) in 1908.