In Memory of Professor Don Dillman

We are sad to share the news that Don Dillman, retired professor at Washington State University, has passed away in June 2024. Professor Dillman was well known to students and graduates of Social Informatics and Methodology as one of the foremost survey methodologists. His work has been a key part of the academic literature in courses involving survey methodology for decades.

Professor Dillman was known for his series of highly cited and popular works in the field of survey methodology. These include Mail and Telephone Surveys: The Total Design Method (TDM), first published in 1978. His subsequent works, notably the Tailored Design Method (TDM) upgrades in 2000, 2008 and 2014, laid the foundations for the implementation of mail and internet surveys. His books and scientific articles have over a hundred thousand citations in Google Scholar.

We also learned directly from professor Dillman at the Chair of Social Informatics and Methodology and at the Centre for Social Informatics. Professor Vasja Vehovar, PhD, met him at the beginning of his career, and Associate Professor Katja Lozar Manfreda, PhD, evaluated the TDM approach in her thesis in 1996. Professor Dillman visited our events several times, such as the Internet Survey Workshop (Dubrovnik, 2005) and the European Survey Research Association (ESRA) Conference, Ljubljana 2013, where he shared his knowledge, encouraged us and exchanged experiences.

Professor Dillman was not only a top expert, but also a remarkable personality - mild and inspiring. We are grateful for the meetings and in-depth discussions we had with him, which had a significant impact on our careers and on the careers of many students. Through his life's work, especially his book Mail and Telephone Surveys, Don has left a lasting mark on the field of survey research.

Details of his work and life can be found here.

~ With regards from CSIM and CSI members.