Wild engendered intense loyalties among the people he knew. His formative naval service gave him a strong sense of teamwork and obligation to others, and to seeking the fairest way ahead. His CSIRO successor spoke of "his generosity in sharing ideas", that he was "extremely approachable", with "the magical ability to reduce the most complex of concepts to simple terms understood by all"; and when these concepts "were realised in practice he never failed to acknowledge the role colleagues played in developing them."