John Wiley & Sons

John Wiley & Sons, often referred to simply as Wiley, is a major global publishing company with a storied history dating to the early 19th century. Headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey, it is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and is a leading provider of scientific, technical, and educational content. The company serves researchers, professionals, and students worldwide through a vast portfolio of academic journals, books, reference works, and digital learning platforms.

History

The company was founded in 1807 in Manhattan by Charles Wiley, initially operating as a small printing shop near City Hall. Following Charles's death in 1826, his son John Wiley took over, forming a partnership with George Palmer Putnam to create Wiley & Putnam, a firm that published notable American and British literature including works by Edgar Allan Poe and Herman Melville. The modern corporate name was adopted after John Wiley brought his own son, Charles, into the business in the 1870s. Throughout the 20th century, the company strategically shifted its focus toward scientific and technical publishing, capitalizing on post-World War II expansion in higher education and research and development. Key milestones included the launch of the influential Wiley InterScience online platform in 1997 and the corporate relocation to Hoboken, New Jersey in 2012.

Business segments

Wiley organizes its operations into three primary business segments. The **Research Publishing and Platforms** segment is centered on disseminating scholarly work through a vast collection of peer-reviewed academic journals, many published in partnership with prestigious societies like the American Institute of Physics and the British Psychological Society. The **Academic and Professional Learning** segment focuses on publishing textbooks, reference works, and digital courseware for university students and professionals in fields such as engineering, accounting, and the life sciences. The **Education Services** segment, historically including the Wiley Edge talent solutions and formerly Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's trade publishing assets, has undergone significant restructuring, with the company recently divesting these units to concentrate on its core research and learning publishing businesses.

Notable publications

The company's catalog includes many landmark titles that have defined academic and professional disciplines. In science, it publishes the renowned *For Dummies* instructional series and critical reference works like *Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology*. Its prestigious journal portfolio includes flagship titles such as *Angewandte Chemie* (published on behalf of the German Chemical Society), *Advanced Materials*, and *The Cochrane Library*. In professional fields, Wiley is the publisher of definitive works like *Fundamentals of Physics* by David Halliday and Robert Resnick, and the popular CFA Institute investment series. Its literary history includes having published early works by Nathaniel Hawthorne and the first American edition of *Moby-Dick*.

Corporate affairs

The company is led by President and Chief Executive Officer Brian Napack and is governed by a board of directors chaired by Jesse Wiley, a seventh-generation family member. Its corporate strategy has increasingly emphasized the transition to digital and open access publishing models, responding to changes in the scholarly communication landscape. Wiley has faced industry-wide challenges including budgetary pressures on library subscriptions and the evolving policies of research funders like the National Institutes of Health and the European Commission. The company maintains major operational centers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, India, and Singapore.

Acquisitions and partnerships

Growth through strategic acquisitions has been a consistent feature of the company's expansion. Significant purchases include the scientific publisher VCH Publishers in 1996, the Blackwell Publishing group in 2007, and the educational publisher Jossey-Bass. In the digital learning space, it acquired CrossKnowledge and Knewton's assets. Major partnerships have extended its reach and service offerings, such as the long-standing collaboration with the American Cancer Society to publish its journals and books, and a landmark agreement with the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers to advance open science initiatives. Recent divestitures, including the sale of its Wiley Edge business and a portfolio of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt titles, reflect a refined strategic focus on core publishing areas.

Category:Book publishing companies of the United States Category:Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Category:Publishing companies established in 1807 Category:Companies based in Hudson County, New Jersey