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Claus Moser, Baron Moser
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Claus Moser, Baron Moser
Claus Adolf Moser, Baron Moser, KCB, CBE (24 November 1922 – 4 September 2015) was a British statistician who made major contributions in both academia and the Civil Service. He prided himself rather on being a non-mathematical statistician, and said that the thing that frightened him most in his life was when Maurice Kendall asked him to teach a course on analysis of variance at the LSE.
Claus Adolf Moser was born in Berlin in 1922. His father was Dr Ernst (Ernest) Moser (1885–1957), owner of the private bank Ernst Moser & Co. in Berlin (est. 1902, liquidated in 1938). His mother was Lotte (née Goldberg, 1897–1976), a talented amateur musician. The spouses also had an elder son, Claus's brother Heinz Peter August. Their house was a centre of attraction, visited by many intellectuals and musicians of the time. Claus Moser learned to play the piano from the age of seven and became an accomplished musician. In 1936, in order to escape Nazi persecution, the family fled to England. Moser went to Frensham Heights School and the London School of Economics (LSE). At this point, he dreamed about becoming a professional musician. However, his music teacher advised him against it, saying that ‘music is much more enjoyable if one's financial situation does not depend on it’.
Despite being Jewish, in 1940, Clause Moser was interned as enemy alien along with his father and brother. They were sent to Huyton Camp. He confessed that in the camp he was surrounded by brilliant cultured German and Austrian Jews, refugees from Nazi Germany. In Huyton, Moser became assistant to a professor of Mathematics who occupied his time conducting a survey of the inmates. Thus he discovered his love for numbers and became a statistician. Moser was released after four month and with the support of his headmaster Sir Alexander Carr-Saunders managed to enroll to the LSE in November 1940.
Moser graduated in 1943 and volunteered for active service in the Royal Air Force. He applied for aircrew but was rejected because of his German origin. Moser became a ground crew member and reached the rank of sergeant. On the last day of war he suffered a severe car accident near the Belgian-German border and went through several operations during his prolonged recovery. He was demobilized in 1946.
In 1946, Moser returned to the LSE as an Assistant Lecturer in Statistics. He took British citizenship in 1947. In 1949, he married Mary, née Oxlin, his fellow student at the LSE. The couple tied the knot in 1949, three kids – Kath, Sue and Peter – were born in the 1950s. In October 1946, he was promoted to Lecturer, and in October 1955 – to Reader. In 1957-58, Moser worked in Geneva in the Statistics Division of the International Labour Office. Along with numerous scientific publications, in 1958 Moser published Survey Methods in Social Investigation, a highly successful book which was reprinted eight times before the second edition was released in 1971. In 1961, Moser became Professor of Social Statistics.
His further career was shaped by an 1961 appointment as Statistical Advisor at the Robbins Committee. Chaired by Lord Robbins, the Committee was established to analyze the future of higher education in the UK. The 2-year long survey became the core of Moser's Higher Education Research Unit which he established at the LSE in 1964.
In 1965 Moser was elected a Fellow of the American Statistical Association. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1965 New Year Honours. However, in the same year he was refused .
In 1967 Harold Wilson appointed Moser Director of the Central Statistical Office. In 1968, he headed the Government Statistical Service. These were two distinct roles, informally, Moser was considered to be the general statistical advisor to the government. He managed to reform the role of the statisticians and made them more involved in policy making. As a part of Moser reforms introduced to the GSS, in 1967 a Government Social Survey Department was established, followed by the launch of the Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys in 1970. Under the POCS, the General Household Survey was started. One of his innovations was the introduction of Social Trends, a publication launched in 1970 and edited by Muriel Nissel that provided an annual picture of the state of society. The data relied mostly on the materials held by the OPSC.
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Claus Moser, Baron Moser
Claus Adolf Moser, Baron Moser, KCB, CBE (24 November 1922 – 4 September 2015) was a British statistician who made major contributions in both academia and the Civil Service. He prided himself rather on being a non-mathematical statistician, and said that the thing that frightened him most in his life was when Maurice Kendall asked him to teach a course on analysis of variance at the LSE.
Claus Adolf Moser was born in Berlin in 1922. His father was Dr Ernst (Ernest) Moser (1885–1957), owner of the private bank Ernst Moser & Co. in Berlin (est. 1902, liquidated in 1938). His mother was Lotte (née Goldberg, 1897–1976), a talented amateur musician. The spouses also had an elder son, Claus's brother Heinz Peter August. Their house was a centre of attraction, visited by many intellectuals and musicians of the time. Claus Moser learned to play the piano from the age of seven and became an accomplished musician. In 1936, in order to escape Nazi persecution, the family fled to England. Moser went to Frensham Heights School and the London School of Economics (LSE). At this point, he dreamed about becoming a professional musician. However, his music teacher advised him against it, saying that ‘music is much more enjoyable if one's financial situation does not depend on it’.
Despite being Jewish, in 1940, Clause Moser was interned as enemy alien along with his father and brother. They were sent to Huyton Camp. He confessed that in the camp he was surrounded by brilliant cultured German and Austrian Jews, refugees from Nazi Germany. In Huyton, Moser became assistant to a professor of Mathematics who occupied his time conducting a survey of the inmates. Thus he discovered his love for numbers and became a statistician. Moser was released after four month and with the support of his headmaster Sir Alexander Carr-Saunders managed to enroll to the LSE in November 1940.
Moser graduated in 1943 and volunteered for active service in the Royal Air Force. He applied for aircrew but was rejected because of his German origin. Moser became a ground crew member and reached the rank of sergeant. On the last day of war he suffered a severe car accident near the Belgian-German border and went through several operations during his prolonged recovery. He was demobilized in 1946.
In 1946, Moser returned to the LSE as an Assistant Lecturer in Statistics. He took British citizenship in 1947. In 1949, he married Mary, née Oxlin, his fellow student at the LSE. The couple tied the knot in 1949, three kids – Kath, Sue and Peter – were born in the 1950s. In October 1946, he was promoted to Lecturer, and in October 1955 – to Reader. In 1957-58, Moser worked in Geneva in the Statistics Division of the International Labour Office. Along with numerous scientific publications, in 1958 Moser published Survey Methods in Social Investigation, a highly successful book which was reprinted eight times before the second edition was released in 1971. In 1961, Moser became Professor of Social Statistics.
His further career was shaped by an 1961 appointment as Statistical Advisor at the Robbins Committee. Chaired by Lord Robbins, the Committee was established to analyze the future of higher education in the UK. The 2-year long survey became the core of Moser's Higher Education Research Unit which he established at the LSE in 1964.
In 1965 Moser was elected a Fellow of the American Statistical Association. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1965 New Year Honours. However, in the same year he was refused .
In 1967 Harold Wilson appointed Moser Director of the Central Statistical Office. In 1968, he headed the Government Statistical Service. These were two distinct roles, informally, Moser was considered to be the general statistical advisor to the government. He managed to reform the role of the statisticians and made them more involved in policy making. As a part of Moser reforms introduced to the GSS, in 1967 a Government Social Survey Department was established, followed by the launch of the Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys in 1970. Under the POCS, the General Household Survey was started. One of his innovations was the introduction of Social Trends, a publication launched in 1970 and edited by Muriel Nissel that provided an annual picture of the state of society. The data relied mostly on the materials held by the OPSC.
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