HOBOKEN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2026--
Wiley (NYSE: WLY), a global leader in authoritative content and research intelligence, today announced the appointment of Jessica Kowalski as Executive Vice President and General Manager, Research, effective May 11, 2026. She succeeds Jay Flynn, who shaped Wiley’s Research business during his tenure and is leaving the company. Kowalski joins Wiley from Microsoft, bringing more than two decades of experience leading knowledge, data, research publishing, and AI-enabled businesses at global scale, including senior operating roles at Amazon Web Services and RELX.
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Over the past two years, Wiley has moved aggressively to execute on its ever-expanding AI and data analytics opportunity, partnering with some of the world's largest technology companies and building strategic relationships with leading AI innovators and corporate model builders to put Wiley's authoritative content at the center of responsible AI development. Kowalski's appointment advances the next phase of that strategy: translating Wiley's AI and content leadership into the products and business models that will define the future of research publishing and expand efforts to deliver content and insights to both current and new customers. The appointment follows Wiley's recent naming of Armughan Rafat as Chief AI and Data Services Officer and reflects the company's broader effort to build a leadership team equipped to lead the industry’s AI evolution.
“Jessica's career has taken her from the heart of research publishing to the leading edge of AI transformation,” said Matthew Kissner, Wiley President and CEO. “That combination is rare, and it's exactly what this pivotal moment requires. She's results-driven, forward-thinking, and leads with innovation, creativity, and a partnership mindset. Following a very thorough search, we are confident Jessica is the right leader for the exciting opportunities ahead of us. As we enter our next phase of growth — scaling AI-enabled research publishing and deepening our partnerships across the global knowledge ecosystem — Jessica's vision and operational rigor will be instrumental in accelerating Wiley’s momentum.”
At Microsoft, Kowalski held full P&L accountability for a large-scale global services business, leading a group of AI, data, and cloud transformation experts building the future for customers in financial services, software, consulting, media, and other industries. Prior to that, at Amazon Web Services, she focused on data and analytics partnerships with regulated information businesses. Her publishing roots run deep: Kowalski spent eleven years at RELX in senior positions at Elsevier and LexisNexis, where she played a central role in transforming the business from a content-centric publisher to an information analytics company. Kowalski holds a Master of Arts from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from The George Washington University.
“To me, science is the highest expression of human ingenuity, and Wiley’s work at the intersection of technology and published research is what transforms discovery into impact,” said Kowalski. “This feels like exactly where I’m meant to be. Every step in my career has led me here, and I’m honored to join the team at Wiley, who are building something that truly matters.”
Jay Flynn, who joined Wiley in 2010 and assumed leadership of the Research business in 2021, was instrumental in defining and executing the company's open access strategy. Under his leadership, Wiley built and expanded its partnerships with scientific and scholarly societies and research institutions and grew its journal and product portfolio. Flynn also advanced Wiley's publishing technology and helped develop the company's early-mover advantage in AI.
About Wiley
Wiley (NYSE: WLY) is a global leader in authoritative content and research intelligence for the advancement of scientific discovery, innovation, and learning. With more than 200 years at the center of the scholarly ecosystem, Wiley combines trusted publishing heritage with AI-powered platforms to transform how knowledge is discovered, accessed, and applied. From individual researchers and students to Fortune 500 R&D teams, Wiley enables the transformation of scientific breakthroughs into real-world impact. From knowledge to impact—Wiley is redefining what's possible in science and learning. Visit us at Wiley.com and Investors.Wiley.com. Follow us on Facebook, X, LinkedIn and Instagram.
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Wiley Names Jessica Kowalski Executive Vice President and General Manager, Research
PRAIA, Cape Verde (AP) — Three patients with suspected hantavirus infections were evacuated from a cruise ship and being flown to the Netherlands on Wednesday, the U.N. health agency said, as the vessel at the center of a deadly outbreak remained off Cape Verde with nearly 150 people on board waiting to head to Spain’s Canary Islands.
Eight cases have been recorded, three confirmed by laboratory testing, according to the World Health Organization. Three people have died. Hantavirus usually spreads by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings and can spread person-to-person, though the WHO calls that rare.
Among the patients being evacuated is the ship's doctor who earlier was in “serious condition” but has improved, Spain’s health ministry said. The company has also told The Associated Press the doctor is in stable condition.
The Dutch foreign ministry said the three being evacuated were a 56-year-old British national, a 41-year-old Dutch national and a 65-year-old German national who would be "immediately transferred to specialized hospitals in Europe.”
Two of them present acute symptoms, ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions said.
Spanish officials said the passengers and crew members left on the ship are without symptoms. The journey to the Canary Islands will take three or four days, Spain’s health ministry said. The arrival of the boat “won´t represent any risk for the public,” Health Minister Mónica García said.
Meanwhile, authorities in Switzerland said a former passenger of the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius luxury cruise ship was being treated at a Zurich university hospital after testing positive for the Andes strain, which WHO says may spread between people.
South African authorities earlier said two other passengers who were transferred there tested positive for that strain. One died in South Africa.
Hantavirus infections are relatively uncommon. The WHO says eight countries in the Americas documented 229 cases and 59 deaths last year.
The ship left Argentina on April 1 on an Atlantic cruise and was scheduled to include stops in Antarctica and several remote South Atlantic Ocean islands. However, the itinerary may have changed because of the situation on board.
The ship is now in the Atlantic off West Africa's island nation of Cape Verde, and the World Health Organization said passengers are isolating in their cabins.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the three patients with suspected hantavirus cases were on their way to the Netherlands.
“At this stage, the overall public health risk remains low,” Tedros said.
Harald Wychgel, a spokesperson for the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, said two doctors were on their way from the Netherlands to Cape Verde to join the ship.
Spain’s health ministry said late Tuesday it would receive the ship in the Canary Islands after a request from WHO and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, despite some opposition from local authorities.
The regional president of Spain’s Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, said Wednesday he was worried the ship's arrival could put the local population at risk and demanded an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
South African health authorities said they identified the Andes strain of hantavirus in two passengers and Swiss authorities said they identified the same virus in their affected patient.
The WHO says the Andes virus, a specific species of hantavirus, is found in South America, primarily in Argentina and Chile. It can be spread between people, though this is rare and only through close contact such as by sharing a bed or food, experts say.
The South African Department of Health said its results came from tests performed on the passengers after they were removed from the ship and flown to South Africa.
One of them, a British man, is in intensive care. The other collapsed and died in South Africa and tests on that person were performed posthumously.
The Swiss health office initially said the patient hospitalized there had “returned from a trip to South America” with his wife at the end of April. Simon Ming, a spokesperson for the office, clarified in an email the patient got off the ship during its stop in St. Helena, an island in the South Atlantic.
It was not immediately clear when or how he returned to Switzerland, but the cruise company previously said the woman who died in South Africa was flown there from St. Helena. It's not clear if the man and the woman who died got off the ship at the same time.
The patient’s wife hasn’t shown symptoms but is self-isolating as a precaution, the statement said.
“There is currently no risk to the Swiss public," the public health office said.
The WHO has said the ship's itinerary included stops across the South Atlantic, including mainland Antarctica and the remote islands of South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha, St. Helena and Ascension.
The cruise company had announced some details of two stops: at St. Helena, where the body of the Dutch man suspected to be the first hantavirus case on board was taken off the ship. His wife left the ship at St. Helena and flew to South Africa, where she died.
The company said a British man was later evacuated from the ship at Ascension Island and taken to South Africa.
The company has not said if other people left the cruise ship at those or other locations.
The South African health ministry said officials had traced 42 out of 62 people, including health workers, they believe had contact with the two infected passengers who traveled there. Those 42 tested negative for hantavirus.
But 20 people still needed to be traced, including five people who may have been on flights to South Africa with some of the passengers as well as flight crew members. Some may have now traveled overseas, the ministry said.
Keaten reported from Geneva, Asadu from Abuja, Nigeria, and Imray from Cape Town, South Africa. Renata Brito and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Geir Moulson in Berlin, and Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Michelle Gumede and Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg contributed to this report.
The MV Hondius cruise ship is anchored at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship into an ambulance at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Health workers in protective gear arrive to evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
A night view of the MV Hondius cruise ship anchored at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
An aerial view of the MV Hondius Dutch cruise ship anchored in the Atlantic off Cape Verde, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Arilson Almeida)
An aerial view of the MV Hondius Dutch cruise ship anchored in the Atlantic off Cape Verde, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Arilson Almeida)
