Dr. Jack W. Wiley, Fellow of SIOP and pillar in the I-O community, passed away on November 2, 2025. Born on May 24, 1952, in Huntington, Indiana, Jack was the second of four children. He had a deep and profound impact on many members of the SIOP community, both professionally and personally.
A SIOP, APA, and APS Fellow, Jack’s career is symbolized by earning SIOP’s Distinguished Professional Practice Contributions Award. With a PhD from the University of Tennessee, he began his IO career at Ford Motor Company, then National Bank of Detroit. After five years at Control Data Corporation, along with Gail Gantz he bought the assets of CDC’s employee survey practice and founded Gantz Wiley Research in 1986 and built a well-respected employee and customer organization. An early pioneer in connecting employee and customer opinions to organizational performance, Jack may have coined the term “Linkage Research” (though truth may be lost in the pre-Internet days). He sold GWR to Kenexa in 2006 and continued as president of their High Performance Institute until 2013. He then became a professor at Manchester University, helping establish an undergraduate I-O concentration. He also stayed active with Jack Wiley Consulting.
Jack is most known throughout SIOP as an employee survey expert. He is the author of several books. His contributions specifically to the SIOP community include several chapters in SIOP books, multiple preconference workshops, and notably, endowing the ongoing Wiley Award for Excellence in Organizational Surveys. He is a coauthor of the upcoming employee survey chapter in the Handbook on the Practice of I-O Psychology.
Jack’s impressive resume does not characterize his impact. He was kind, supportive, and impeccably dressed. To watch Jack deliver an executive presentation was to witness a formal command of the room, generating excitement among often cynical leaders—and always with a handkerchief in his coat’s breast pocket. His sense of formality led to a slow adoption of Casual Fridays within GWR, and even then, each week was subject to careful approval. Those who knew him casually may not glimpse a subtle coolness underneath his traditional style. If one arrived early enough to work, one might have heard ZZ Top rolling out of Jack’s office. He knew his classic rock—artist, album, and year. That trivia topic may only have been surpassed by Jack’s grasp of basketball, particularly Indiana basketball. Jack was a model of integrity, and ever values driven. He was a mentor, a collaborator, and a friend.
Outside of work, Jack was deeply involved with the community, most importantly serving as an elder in the Church of Christ. Jack is survived by his wife, Rhonda; four children (Nathan, Luke, Megan, Jackson); and 15grandchildren. Funeral services were held last November in Wabash, Indiana. To share a memory, send flowers to the family, or plant a tree in memory of Jack William Wiley, please visit https://lnkd.in/ec63qEUG. Additionally, there are many comments from the professional community in a LinkedIn thread here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7391507537289768960/?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A(activity%3A7391507537289768960%2C7391599263904043008)&dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A(7391599263904043008%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7391507537289768960)
