Don A. Dillman, 82, Washington State University Regents Professor Emeritus, passed away Friday, June 14, 2024, at the Pullman Regional Hospital after a yearlong battle with acute myeloid leukemia.
Don was internationally recognized as a leading expert in survey methodology. Over his 55-year career, he used experimental studies to establish standards and best practices that changed how researchers around the world conduct surveys. A devoted husband and professional colleague to Joye, father to Andrew and Melody, he will be sorely missed by his family, colleagues, friends and his many former students.
Don was born Oct. 24, 1941, in Lucas County, Iowa, to Floyd and Mildred Dillman. Surviving polio at the age of 5 led to a life of gratitude and joyous appreciation. He spent his first 17 years on a 160-acre family farm near the small town of Williamson. Years later when asked why he didn’t become a farmer, his answer invariably included memories of milking cows when it was 20 below zero.
It was his involvement in 4-H programs as a child that introduced Don to people beyond his rural community, including research extension agents and college students who worked with 4-H kids. His first visit to Iowa State College was to attend a summer 4-H short course held on campus, providing a glimpse of a possible future life outside farming.
After graduating Chariton High School in 1959, he started classes at Iowa State University as an agronomy major. He also pursued his interest in music as a member of the Iowa State Marching Band. And he remained active with 4-H where he made connections with other rural Iowa students, including Joye Jolly from Pleasantville who would become his wife of 60 years.
In 1963, Don represented Iowa 4-H club members as an International Farm Youth Exchange delegate to Poland, a six-month experience that exposed him to a world far beyond Iowa. His fellow IFYE travelers became lifelong friends. Another transformational moment was a rural sociology course taught by Joe Bohlen, inspiring Don to pursue graduate school in sociology. Don went on to earn his master’s (1966) and Ph.D. (1969) at ISU while working as a research assistant exploring social action efforts, often using in person interviews to gather data. One of his final projects before graduation was the design of his first telephone survey, a formative event that led to his career as a survey methodologist.
Don joined the WSU faculty in the fall of 1969 as an assistant professor with a joint appointment between the Departments of Sociology and the Department of Rural Sociology. The following year a student strike prompted a need to conduct a telephone survey of students, for which Don was given funding to setup the Public Opinion Laboratory, one of the first university-based telephone survey labs. This would become known as the Social and Economic Sciences Research Center, where Don served as director (1985–96) and then deputy director for Research and Development (1996–2024). Don helped the center to bring in millions of dollars in research grants to WSU.
His work and experiments during his early years at WSU led to publication of “Mail and Telephone Surveys: The Total Design Method” (1978), the first book to provide detailed procedures for conducting surveys, often referred to as the ‘‘bible’’ for conducting mail surveys. Now in its fourth edition, “Internet, Phone, Mail and Mixed-Mode Surveys, The Tailored Design Method” (Dillman, Smyth and Christian, 2014), it remains a leading text in the field, and a fifth edition is in progress.
At WSU Don held a variety of leadership positions and was recognized with numerous awards including presenter of the Distinguished Faculty Address (1985), the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Research (1995) and the Eminent Faculty Award (2002), WSU’s highest faculty honor.
Don served as a senior survey methodologist for the U.S. Bureau of the Census from 1991–95, where he focused on modernizing questionnaire designs and implementation procedures for the 2000 Census. Don held memberships in many professional organizations, including the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), where he served as president in 2001–02. In 2003, he received the AAPOR award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement, the highest honor awarded in the U.S. in the field of public opinion research.
The professional accomplishment Don was most proud of was the many graduate students he trained and advised over his career. He believed he learned as much from them as they did from him. The satisfaction he got from his work was not in the discovery itself, but in seeing ideas put into practice by colleagues and professionals around the world. Don strongly believed that the mission of a land-grant university like WSU is to share new knowledge through outreach to the community, a mission he lived his whole career. He explored that mission in his latest book, a biography, “You Have Been Randomly Selected: A Life Dedicated to Turning Research Findings Into Practical Applications” (WSU Press, July 2024).
Don traveled extensively for both professional activities and vacations. He visited over 40 countries, making it to every continent except Antarctica, and racking up over three million miles on United Airlines. His favorite place to return to was Hawaii — especially Kauai — where he and Joye celebrated their anniversary many times.
Don’s interest in genealogy led to collaborations with distant cousins, including co-editing a book published last year on his family association’s research efforts. His interests included gardening, birding, reading (especially biographies) and talking about politics, usually while enjoying a glass of Chardonnay. He was delighted to attend the Palouse Dance Club for almost 30 years. Somehow, he still found time to go swimming three times a week. His was a life lived well and to the fullest to the last day.
Don is survived by his wife, Joye Jolly Dillman, son Andrew Dillman (Daric Craven), daughter Melody Dillman (David Jensen), grandson Zachary Dillman, and his favorite Boston terrier, Sunny.
A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 23, at Simpson United Methodist Church, 325 NE Maple St., Pullman. The event will be livestreamed for those unable to attend in person.
In lieu of flowers, his memory may be honored by making a contribution to WSU’s Don Dillman Graduate Fellowship, the WSU Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections (MASC) Development Fund or to a charity that is meaningful to you.
Corbeill Funeral Home of Pullman is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be made at corbeillfuneralhomes.com.
