William Wiley, Visionary Scientist Known For His Down-To-Earth Style

William R. "Bill" Wiley was so revered for his forward-thinking ideas, his passion for education and his community charisma that his leadership of the Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory near Richland seemed almost incidental.

He was a scientist as interested in mining human potential as overseeing the monumental job of cleaning up Hanford nuclear waste.

He was a guy who pulled himself up from poverty and racism in rural Mississippi and never stopped preaching the empowerment of education to generations of kids.

He was a business leader and visionary whose funeral Wednesday in Richland was attended by more than 1,000 people, including Gov. Mike Lowry, congressmen, legislators, executives from across the country and townsfolk who appreciated not only the jobs he helped generate but also his down-to-earth style.

Mr. Wiley, 64, died Sunday, June 30, at his Richland home from a illness related to an abdominal infection.

He was born in Oxford, Miss., on Sept. 5, 1931, the oldest of five children. His father ran a shoe- and harness-repair shop. The community was segregated, and Wiley's grandfather, known as "Uncle Rufus," never went anywhere without a gun.

Mr. Wiley learned early about the value of education and went on to earn a chemistry degree from Tougaloo College in Mississippi, a master's degree from the University of Illinois-Urbana and a doctorate in bacteriology from Washington State University.

He joined Battelle in 1965 as a research scientist. In 1979 he became the company's director of research. From 1984 to 1994, he was director of the laboratory.

One of his top accomplishments was establishing Battelle's Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, set to open in the Tri-Cities in about six months.

Mr. Wiley had the ability and vision, say associates, to meld science and technology to the real world. He had a nurturing style, always making the goal, and not the opponent, the issue.

"I look at it this way," he said in 1992. "If you leave the scientist alone to do his work, he'll go on to probe the essence of nature. He will then publish his findings in a scholarly journal, and that will be the end of that. But give the scientist a real world problem and put him to work. He will apply his learning to come up with solutions that can have far-reaching benefits throughout the world."

Battelle doubled its work force during his decade as director. The Tri-Cities laboratory did $405 million in business in 1991, and its 4,000 employees are among the world's best-educated scientists and engineers.

His reputation as a leader and strategic thinker led to his appointment to a number of state and national commissions and think-tank groups with missions ranging from science to education to economic development.

But Mr. Wiley was perhaps best-known for his love of education and his desire to see youths, especially African-American kids, take advantage of learning.

He was instrumental in locating a WSU branch in the Tri-Cities. In 1989, he was selected as Tri-Citian of the Year and also received a series of honorary degrees from several colleges and universities.

He was a member of the Washington State University board of regents, the Whitman College board of overseers, the Southern University Engineering Executive Committee, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center board of trustees.

Mr. Wiley was an unassuming success. He had a silver Porsche but rarely took it out of the garage. He usually drove a beat-up Chevy Caprice, even when giving WSU President Sam Smith a ride around the Tri-Cities on a fund-raising mission.

Mr. Wiley was serving as vice president for science and technology with Battelle Memorial Institute when he died.

He is survived by his wife, Myrtle, and a daughter, Johari M.C. Wiley-Johnson, both of Richland; his parents, William and Edna Wiley of Oxford, Miss.; and many other relatives.

Memorial contributions should be made to the William R. Wiley Scholarship Fund, WSU, Pullman, WA 99164-5910.