The AIR community mourns the loss of James “Jim” Riley Montgomery, who was a pioneer in the field of IR and served as Director of Institutional Research at University of Tennessee followed by Virginia Tech. He passed away October 24, 2023, at age 93.

Jim was president of AIR in 1966-1967 and chair of the sixth annual AIR Forum in 1996. He was bestowed the AIR Outstanding Service Award in 1980 and the AIR John Stecklein Distinguished Member Award in 1996.

Throughout his career, Jim authored more than 50 papers in both history and educational research. Through AIR, he coauthored The Nature and Role of Institutional Research: Memo to a College or University (1970), which was instrumental in professionalizing the young field of IR. Many of Jim’s contributions to AIR are outlined in “The Association of Institutional Research: The First 50 Years.”

Read a full obituary for Jim Montgomery to learn more about his contributions.