Wilks initially studied architecture at the North Texas Teacher's College. He followed this with a BSc in mathematics at U Texas in 1928 and a PhD in statistics at ISU (supervised by Rietz) in 1931. In 1933, after a year in England working with Sir Ronald Fisher and Wishart, he joined the staff at Princeton U, where his research students included Anderson, Goodman, Mood, and Mosteller. He was a founder member of the IMS, serving as its President in 1940, and was its Rietz Lecturer in 1959. From 1938–49 he was Editor of the Annals of Mathematical Statistics. He was President of the ASA in 1950. See also Wilks Award
http://www.amstat.org/about/statisticiansinhistory/bios/wilkssamuels.pdf Obituary.