The spatial and temperature dependence of the surface-induced orientational order parameter S(z,T) was determined in the isotropic phase. An optical fiber was immersed in a thin liquid crystal layer and the retardation was measured as a function of the fiber's height above the surface, from which the model-independent S(z,T) was deduced with resolution <or=2 nm. It was found that (i) S(z=0) <or=0.12 close to the nematic transition temperature, (ii) the susceptibility is mean-field-like, and (iii) S(z,T) deviates significantly from exponential spatial decay. The results are discussed in terms of a nonlocal potential.