Spencer continued graduate work in sociology at the University of Chicago, where he co-founded the Science Research Associates, an educational publishing firm also known as SRA.
The SRA nearly went bankrupt in the first year and Spencer gave up this idea, essentially creating a commercial firm in 1939.
IBM purchased the SRA in 1964; meanwhile, Spencer maintained the position of the firm's chief executive officer up until 1968.
Spencer came to realize the potential for his large fortune could affect educational research around the world after IBM bought it.
Lyle M. Spencer died of pancreatic cancer on August 21, 1968, and was buried in Appleton, Wisconsin.
[1][2] With Lyle Spencer's directions, the Foundation works to investigate ways in which education can be improved around the world.
It provides a number of networking and professional development opportunities and informally is seen as an indicator of who are some of the most promising researchers in education.