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University of Iowa meta-analysis pioneer Frank Schmidt dies at 77
‘He changed how I think, and that changed my career and my life’
Vanessa Miller
Aug. 24, 2021 3:42 pm, Updated: Aug. 25, 2021 9:22 am
IOWA CITY — Although he was an academic titan — and pioneer of the widely-used meta-analysis research method — University of Iowa professor emeritus Frank L. Schmidt’s friends and “intellectual” children and grandchildren say they’ll also remember his humanity and generosity.
“Frank did nothing less than change how we think about and summarize statistical findings in psychology,” Rice University psychology Professor Fred Oswald wrote on Twitter after hearing of Schmidt’s death. “Personally, I was scared to meet him at first, (because) of the force of his writing … Turns out he's the nicest person you'd ever want to meet.”
Schmidt, 77, of Iowa City, died unexpectedly of a heart attack Saturday.
Having joined the UI Tippie College of Business faculty in 1985 and developed research tools and methods over the years that changed global thinking about psychology and statistical findings, Schmidt still was doing work and research at Iowa when he passed.
“Frank has never actually retired, so the news that he left us felt so unreal,” University of Texas at San Antonio Professor Huy Le wrote on a memorial page. “I’m certain that many, many years from now, when most of us have been mostly forgotten, people will still remember Frank’s name and his contributions.”
Meta-analysis
Among Schmidt’s offerings to the field of psychology and data analysis were two research methods: validity generalization and meta-analysis.
His validity generalization work confirmed the legitimacy of employment and hiring tools — like tests, interviews and assessments. It changed the way researchers and practitioners think about selection methods “in what amounts to a paradigm shift in employment selection,” according to Schmidt’s biography, noting direct employment impacts for companies like Ford Motor Co. and the U.S. government and military.
His work developing meta-analytic methods with fellow researcher Jack Hunter — who died in 2002 — explicated his validity generalization work for use in any research field, forever changing statistical significance testing.
Schmidt published 200-plus articles and book chapters on personnel selection, meta-analysis and selection-method validity. He co-authored six books and received top awards from the likes of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science.
He was a senior scientist for Gallup, the Washington, D.C.-based analytics company known for its public opinion polls.
“Personally, Frank was one of a handful of the single most impactful mentors and collaborators I’ve had a chance to work with — and I’ve been very lucky in that regard,” Gallup Chief Scientist Jim Harter wrote on the memorial page. “I’ve said many times, to others and to him, that he changed how I think about the complexity and practicality of science. He changed how I think, and that changed my career and my life.”
‘You recognized me’
That personal impact resonated throughout the voices remembering Schmidt — born into a farm family in Louisville, Ky., who earned degrees at Bellarmine College and Purdue University before joining the Michigan State University faculty in the 1970s and embarking on his influential collaboration with psychology professor Hunter.
UI management and entrepreneurship Professor Amy Colbert said she was one of Schmidt’s doctoral students 20 years ago — taking five courses from Schmidt, who shaped her research path and recruited her back years later.
Schmidt was among those who interviewed Colbert for the job and — as hiring strategies are among his areas of expertise — she recalled Schmidt “asked the hardest questions that I’ve ever had.”
“He definitely did not give me a pass just because he knew me,” she told The Gazette. “He grilled me pretty good.”
But Schmidt managed to balance that tenacity with a conscientious humanity for everyone he met, according to Colbert, who recalls taking a tough course from Schmidt decades ago while pregnant.
“He was so generous with his time and always was there to answer questions,” she said.
After Colbert had her baby, she brought him in to meet everyone and when Schmidt spoke, the infant turned his head and looked.
“I swear he recognized Frank’s voice because he probably — in the womb — heard him talking for at least three or four hours a week,” she said of her son, who now is a UI junior studying health and human physiology. “So I think Ben probably picked up a little bit of methods expertise from Frank, too.”
Many said Schmidt was brilliant with children. Like one doctoral student — Steve Courtright — who said he’ll remember that most.
“My favorite memory of Frank was not in the classroom, but rather at the Johnson County Fairgrounds,” he wrote, recalling the time he brought his three young kids to the fair and bumped into Schmidt, who his kids had not met before.
“He saw that my oldest was particularly curious about the tractors,” Courtright wrote. “Having grown up on a farm and also having read about antique tractors … Frank began giving my son a personalized tour of each and every tractor displayed at the fair.”
Schmidt spent over a half-hour sharing insights and stories about tractors with the boy.
“Frank, thank you for inspiring generations of scholars with your intellect and wisdom,” he wrote. “But most of all, thank you for the attention you showed my family on a day at the fair — something way outside your job description.”
UI management and entrepreneurship Professor Emeritus Sara Rynes-Weller — who served as department chair when Schmidt was on the faculty — noted his generosity and philanthropy.
“As smart as he was — as somebody said, scary smart, as he was — he also mentored students who were struggling, which I thought was really, really commendable,” she told The Gazette. “He had a tremendous interest in improving mental health.”
He did a lot of fundraising over the years for the National Association for Mental Illness, she said. And his family has designated NAMI of Johnson County among the organizations friends and family can give to in lieu of flowers for his memorial.
One former student — In-Sue Oh, now a Temple University professor — wrote of Schmidt: “I made a few great choices in my life, and coming to Iowa to work with him was certainly one of them. Frank, thank you for all you have done for me since my first day in Iowa when we ran across each other in the hallway to the department office. Even then, you recognized me.”
Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com