A. John Wiley Jr.

A. John Wiley, Jr. is a writer of two books Bottom Half Teens released in 2019 and a new book to be released in summer of 2020 called Building Character, Shaping Lives. At 77 years of age, A. John Wiley has seen and done a lot of things. As a Wisconsin teacher-turned-entrepreneur-turned-activist, he’s founded and run several companies, worked as an executive at two chambers of commerce, helped launch a Boys and Girls Club in Wisconsin’s Fox Valley, chaired a juvenile violence task force and worked hand in hand with the Salvation Army for a decade and a half. He has been a leader in Rotary International and has done mission trips to Haiti and Niger. In 2018, he published his first book, “Bottom Half Teens: A Caring Community-Driven Solution to Rescue Young Lives Trapped in a Broken System.” Wiley has lived out a career as an entrepreneur in Wisconsin. His “working” career began teaching for four years in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He would later run the Oshkosh and Neenah-Menasha chambers of commerce for seven years, help found, build, and grow Outlook Graphics, and later launch Elipticon Wood Products. He has been an active member of Rotary International for 45 years, serving as the District Governor in 1994-1995. His passion to serve disadvantaged families and children led him to serve on the board of the Salvation Army for 14 years. In addition, he was instrumental in developing Project Home, and, with others, in starting a day-care alternative high school in Wautoma, Wisconsin, and a 24/7 care alternative high school in Reedsville, Wisconsin. He also chaired the Mayor’s Juvenile Violence Task Force, the Chamber of Commerce’s Apprenticeship Program, and Fox Valley Lutheran High School’s Blue Ribbon Committee and the Funding a Fresh Start Committee, all in Appleton, Wisconsin. Wiley lives in Appleton and has been married for 52 years to his wife, Sandy, and has been blessed with four children, Nell, Ben, Ladd, and Rica, and 10 grandchildren.