Wilson Allen Wallis (November 5, 1912 – October 12, 1998) was an American economist and statistician who served as president of the University of Rochester.[3] He is best known for the Kruskal–Wallis one-way analysis of variance, which is named after him and William Kruskal.
W. Allen Wallis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 2nd Chancellor of the University of Rochester | |
| In office 1970–1982 | |
| Preceded by | Ira Harris |
| 1st CEO of the University of Rochester | |
| In office 1970–1975 | |
| Succeeded by | Robert L. Sproull |
| 6th President of the University of Rochester | |
| In office 1962–1970 | |
| Preceded by | Cornelis W. de Kiewiet |
| Succeeded by | Robert L. Sproull |
| 10th Under Secretary of State for Economic and Agricultural Affairs | |
| In office September 23, 1982 – January 20, 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Myer Rashish |
| Succeeded by | Richard T. McCormack |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 5, 1912 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | October 12, 1998 (aged 85) Rochester, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Independent (until 1984)[1] Republican (1984–1998)[2] |
| Spouse | Anne Armstrong |
| Children | Nancy Wallis Ingling Virginia Wallis Cates |
| Parent(s) | Wilson Dallam Wallis, Grace Steele Allen |
| Education | University of Minnesota University of Chicago |
| Profession | Administrator |
Early years
editBorn in Philadelphia, he attended the University of Minnesota, Class of 1932, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity. After receiving his degree in psychology and a year of graduate work at the University of Minnesota, he began graduate studies in economics at The University of Chicago in 1933, where he began what would prove to be lifelong friendships with Milton Friedman, Aaron Director and George Stigler.
In 1936–37, he served as an economist and statistician for the National Resources Committee. During World War II, Wallis was the director of research of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development's Statistical Research Group (1942–46) at Columbia University; he recruited a team of bright young economists, including Friedman and Stigler, to the Statistical Research Group.
From 1948 to 1954, Wallis served as the treasurer of the Mont Pèlerin Society.[4]
University administration
edit
Wallis served as dean of The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business from 1956 to 1962. During his time as dean he established the "Chicago Approach to Business Education," which involved the application of statistical methodology to business.[5]
He became president of the University of Rochester in 1962, a position he held until 1970, when he became the University of Rochester's chancellor and chief executive. In 1975, he relinquished the job of chief executive, but remained chancellor of the university until his retirement in 1982.[6]
In December 1992, the University of Rochester named a joint program of its Departments of Economics and Political Science in honor of Wallis: the W. Allen Wallis Institute of Political Economy at the University of Rochester.[7] He died in 1998 in Rochester, New York.
Presidential advisor
editIn addition to his role as an academic and academic administrator, Wallis served as an advisor to U.S. presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. Under Eisenhower, he collaborated with Vice President Nixon on the report of the Cabinet Committee on Price Stability for Economic Growth (1959–61). Under Nixon and Ford, he served on the President's Commission on Federal Statistics and on the Advisory Council on Social Security. Nixon also appointed Wallis as chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a post he held 1975–78. Under Reagan, he served as Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs (1982–85), and then, after Congress changed the job description and title, as Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs (1985–89).
Selected works
edit- Wallis, W. Allen; Moore, Geoffrey H. (1941), A Significance Test for Time Series and Other Ordered Observations., New York: National Bureau of Economic Research, OCLC 1876032
- Wallis, W. Allen; Churchill Eisenhart; Millard W Hastay (1947), Selected Techniques of Statistical Analysis for Scientific and Industrial Research and Production and Management Engineering, New York: McGraw-Hill, OCLC 490341075
- Wallis, W. Allen; Harry V. Roberts (1956), Statistics, a New Approach, Glencoe, Illinois: Free Press, OCLC 839651, retrieved 2009-12-30
- Wallis, W. Allen; James Tobin (1968), Welfare Programs: An Economic Appraisal, Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, OCLC 21672
- Wallis, W. Allen (1969), "Abolish the Draft", Science, 163 (3864), Washington, D.C.: National Council to Repeal the Draft: 235, Bibcode:1969Sci...163..235W, doi:10.1126/science.163.3864.235, OCLC 45712869, PMID 17790247
- Wallis, W. Allen (1976), An Overgoverned Society, New York: Free Press, ISBN 978-0-02-933710-3, OCLC 2352513
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Pace, Eric (14 October 1998). "W. Allen Wallis, 85, Economist and President of U. Of Rochester". The New York Times.
- ^ "W. ALLEN WALLIS" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-11-29.
- ^ Pace, Eric (1998-10-14), "W. Allen Wallis, 85, Economist And President of U. of Rochester", The New York Times, New York, pp. A21, ISSN 0362-4331, retrieved 2009-12-30
- ^ R. M. Hartwell, A History of the Mont Pelerin Society, Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1995, pp. 66–7.
- ^ "Retired UR president Wallis dies", Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, pp. 1B, 1998-10-13, ISSN 1088-5153
- ^ "W. Allen Wallis, 85, Economist And President of U. of Rochester", The New York Times, New York City, New York, pp. A21, 1998-10-14, ISSN 0362-4331
- ^ W. Allen Wallis Institute of Political Economy (1998-10-12). "W. A. Wallis". Rochester, New York: University of Rochester. Retrieved 2009-12-30.