Frank L. Schmidt

Frank L. Schmidt
Name	Frank L. Schmidt
Birth date	1944
Death date	2023
Nationality	American
Occupation	Psychologist, Researcher, Professor
Known for	Meta-analysis, Personnel Psychology, Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Employer	University of Iowa
Alma mater	Ohio State University

Frank L. Schmidt

Frank L. Schmidt was an American psychologist and scholar known for foundational work in meta-analysis, personnel psychology, and industrial-organizational psychology. He held a long-term faculty position at the University of Iowa and influenced policy, practice, and research across psychometrics, organizational behavior, and human resources. His work interacted with methods and debates involving scholars and institutions across psychology, statistics, and management science.

Early life and education

Schmidt was born in the mid-20th century and pursued higher education culminating in doctoral training at Ohio State University. His graduate mentors and peers included figures connected to psychometrics and industrial psychology traditions at Ohio State University and elsewhere. During his formative years he engaged with research communities linked to American Psychological Association, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and related scholarly networks.

Academic career

Schmidt joined the faculty of the University of Iowa where he served in departments associated with psychology and applied research. He taught courses tied to personnel selection and supervised doctoral students who later joined faculties at institutions such as University of Minnesota, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Michigan State University, and Cornell University. He frequently presented at conferences organized by Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, American Psychological Association, Association for Psychological Science, and international venues including European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology meetings. Collaborations and critiques involved scholars from Stanford University, Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan, Yale University, Columbia University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, Northwestern University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Southern California, University of Chicago, Brown University, Indiana University Bloomington, University of Arizona, Purdue University, Rutgers University, Vanderbilt University, University of Florida, and University of Washington.

Research and contributions

Schmidt developed and popularized methodological approaches to quantitative synthesis, advancing meta-analysis methods that addressed artifacts such as measurement error, range restriction, and selection bias. His empirical and theoretical work informed practice in personnel selection, performance appraisal, and decisions in industrial-organizational psychology contexts. He co-authored influential models and corrective procedures used by researchers and practitioners involved with psychometrics, criterion validity, and predictive validity studies. His collaborations included partnerships with scholars from Johns Hopkins University, MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Maryland, University of Pittsburgh, Boston University, Emory University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Auburn University, Cleveland Clinic, RAND Corporation, RTI International, Center for Naval Analyses, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and private sector research groups.

Schmidt's work intersected with debates and applications involving civil service reform research, occupational testing, and meta-analytic syntheses used by U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology task forces, and consulting firms such as McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, and Boston Consulting Group. Methodological contributions influenced statistical treatments used alongside techniques from regression analysis, structural equation modeling, and item response theory developed at centers like Mershon Center and institutes of applied statistics.

Awards and honors

His scholarship was recognized by multiple honors from professional organizations including awards from Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, American Psychological Association, and the Association for Psychological Science. Academic honors connected him with recognitions from institutions such as University of Iowa emeritus distinctions and visiting positions at centers including Harvard University and Stanford University. His influence was acknowledged in festschrifts and invited lectures at venues like Royal Society of Edinburgh-affiliated meetings and international symposia hosted by European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology and the International Association for Applied Psychology.

Selected publications

Schmidt authored and co-authored numerous articles and books on quantitative synthesis, validity generalization, and selection methods. Representative works were published in journals including Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Psychological Bulletin, Psychometrika, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, American Psychologist, Research in Organizational Behavior, Annual Review of Psychology, Behavioral Research Methods, Psychological Methods, Journal of Management, Human Resource Management, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, European Journal of Personality, Applied Psychological Measurement, Personnel Review, Organizational Research Methods, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Learning and Individual Differences, Leadership Quarterly, Human Performance, Quality and Quantity, and Statistical Science.

Personal life and legacy

Schmidt's mentorship shaped generations of industrial-organizational psychologists and psychometricians who continue to contribute to academic departments, consulting practices, and government agencies such as U.S. Office of Personnel Management and U.S. Department of Defense. His methodological legacy endures in curricula at institutions including Columbia University Teachers College, London School of Economics, University College London, University of Amsterdam, KU Leuven, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, Monash University, National University of Singapore, Peking University, Tsinghua University, and University of Hong Kong. He is remembered by colleagues in professional bodies such as Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, American Psychological Association, Association for Psychological Science, and the International Association for Applied Psychology for transforming how evidence is aggregated and applied.

Category:American psychologists Category:University of Iowa faculty Category:1944 births Category:2023 deaths