Claus Moser, Baron Moser

The Right Honourable
The Lord Moser
KCB CBE
The Right Honourable The Lord Moser KCB CBE
Director of the Central Statistical Office
	In office; 1967–1978
Preceded by	Harry Campion
Succeeded by	John Boreham
Personal details
Born	Claus Adolf Moser; 24 November 1922; Berlin, German Reich
Died	4 September 2015 (aged 92); Chur, Switzerland
Citizenship	British
Nationality	British
Spouse	Mary Oxlin
Education	Frensham Heights School
Alma mater	London School of Economics
Occupation	Statistician
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1943–1946

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.^[1]^[2] 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.^[3]

Life

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. In 1936 he moved to England with his parents and his brother Heinz Peter August. He went to Frensham Heights School and the London School of Economics (LSE). Despite being Jewish, in 1940, he was interned as an enemy alien in Huyton Camp.

After four months, he was released and served in the Royal Air Force, 1943–1946. He then returned to LSE as Assistant Lecturer, then Lecturer, in Statistics, 1946–1955; Reader in Social Statistics, 1955–1961; Professor of Social Statistics, 1961–1970; Visiting Professor of Social Statistics, 1970–1975.

In 1965 he was elected a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.^[4] He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1965 New Year Honours,^[5] and in 1965, he applied for a job at the Central Statistical Office but was rejected, as a former enemy alien. However, this did not seem to be a problem when in 1967 Harold Wilson appointed him Director of the Central Statistical Office. He was made a Knight Commander of the Bath (KCB) in the 1973 New Year Honours.^[6] He resigned as Director of the Central Statistical Office in 1978.

He held a very wide variety of posts. These included:

Member, Governing Body, Royal Academy of Music, 1967–1979
Director, Central Statistical Office, 1968–1978
BBC Music Advisory Committee, 1971–1983
Visiting Fellow, Nuffield College, Oxford, 1972–1980
Chairman, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 1974–1987
Director, N M Rothschild & Sons, 1978–1990 (Vice-chairman, 1978–1984)
President, Royal Statistical Society, 1978–1980
Chairman, Economist Intelligence Unit, 1979–1983
Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, 1984–1993^[7]
Chancellor, Keele University, 1986–2002
Trustee, London Philharmonic Orchestra, 1988–2000
President, British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1989–1990
Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford, 1991–1993
Chairman, British Museum Development Trust, 1993–2003, later Chairman Emeritus
Chancellor, Open University of Israel, 1994–2004

He was made a life peer with the title Baron Moser, of Regents Park in the London Borough of Camden on 23 June 2001.^[8] Other honours included the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, 1996, Commandeur de l'Ordre National du Mérite (France), 1976; Commander's Cross, Order of Merit (Germany), 1985.

Moser also received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1995.^[9]

While on holidays Moser died in Chur (Switzerland) on 4 September 2015, following a stroke.^[10]

The Claus Moser Research Centre

Moser was honorary Chancellor at Keele University at a time of rapid change after funding cuts in the early 80s, and appointment of a full-time vice-chancellor to reduce staff / student ratios further after that first emergency. Keele's funding per student was reduced by a third and Oxford's by a thirtieth from similar amounts per head in the 70s.

In 1997 Moser participated in a ceremony to mark the start of construction of the Claus Moser Research Centre, a dedicated research facility for the Humanities and Social Sciences.^[11] He returned to the university in June 2008 to participate in the official opening of the £3.5m building.^[12]

References

^ Nissel, Muriel; Isaacs, Jeremy (6 September 2015). "Lord Moser obituary: Director of the Central Statistical Office who became chairman of the Royal Opera House". The Guardian. UK.
^ "Lord Moser – obituary: Statistician, economist, academic and champion of the arts and sciences who believed that all should benefit from high culture". The Daily Telegraph. UK. 6 September 2015.
^ Claus Moser and Julian Champkin, 'Lord Moser'. Significance, Wiley, 2 March 2007, doi:10.1111/j.1740-9713.2007.00217.x
^ View/Search Fellows of the ASA Archived 16 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2016-08-20.
^ "No. 43529". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1965. p. 10.
^ "No. 45860". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1973. p. 3.
^ Wardens of Wadham Archived 19 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Wadham College, Oxford, UK.
^ "No. 56259". The London Gazette. 29 June 2001. p. 7687.
^ "Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh: Honorary Graduates". www1.hw.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
^ Steven, Alasdair (5 September 2015). "British statistician and former Chairman of the Royal Opera House Claus Moser dies: German-born academic, civil servant and life peer made a huge contribution to public life". UK: Royal Opera House.
^ The Week At Keele Archived 15 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Keele University, UK, 12 January 2007.
^ Keele University Facebook bulletin, Facebook.

External links

Portraits of Statisticians

Government offices
Preceded by Harry Campion	Director of the Central Statistical Office 1967–1978	Succeeded by John Boreham
Academic offices
Preceded by Stuart Hampshire	Warden of Wadham College, Oxford 1984–1993	Succeeded by John S. Flemming
Preceded by The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon	Chancellor of Keele University 1986–2002	Succeeded by David Weatherall

[guardian-1] Nissel, Muriel; Isaacs, Jeremy (6 September 2015). "Lord Moser obituary: Director of the Central Statistical Office who became chairman of the Royal Opera House". The Guardian. UK.

[telegraph-2] "Lord Moser – obituary: Statistician, economist, academic and champion of the arts and sciences who believed that all should benefit from high culture". The Daily Telegraph. UK. 6 September 2015.

[3] Claus Moser and Julian Champkin, 'Lord Moser'. Significance, Wiley, 2 March 2007, doi:10.1111/j.1740-9713.2007.00217.x

[4] View/Search Fellows of the ASA Archived 16 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2016-08-20.

[5] "No. 43529". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1965. p. 10.

[6] "No. 45860". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1973. p. 3.

[7] Wardens of Wadham Archived 19 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Wadham College, Oxford, UK.

[8] "No. 56259". The London Gazette. 29 June 2001. p. 7687.

[9] "Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh: Honorary Graduates". www1.hw.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.

[roh-10] Steven, Alasdair (5 September 2015). "British statistician and former Chairman of the Royal Opera House Claus Moser dies: German-born academic, civil servant and life peer made a huge contribution to public life". UK: Royal Opera House.

[11] The Week At Keele Archived 15 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Keele University, UK, 12 January 2007.

[12] Keele University Facebook bulletin, Facebook.

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v t e Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society
19th century	1834–1836 The Marquess of Lansdowne 1836–1838 Sir Charles Lemon, Bt 1838–1840 The Earl FitzWilliam 1840–1842 Viscount Sandon 1842–1843 The Marquess of Lansdowne 1843–1845 Lord Ashley 1845–1847 The Lord Monteagle of Brandon 1847–1849 The Earl FitzWilliam 1849–1851 The Earl of Harrowby 1851–1853 The Lord Overstone 1853–1855 The Earl FitzWilliam 1855–1857 The Earl of Harrowby 1857–1859 Lord Stanley 1859–1861 Lord John Russell 1861–1863 Sir John Pakington, Bt 1863–1865 William Henry Sykes 1865–1867 The Lord Houghton 1867–1869 William Ewart Gladstone 1869–1871 William Newmarch 1871–1873 William Farr 1873–1875 William Guy 1875–1877 James Heywood 1877–1879 George Shaw-Lefevre 1879–1880 Thomas Brassey 1880–1882 James Caird 1882–1884 Robert Giffen 1884–1886 Rawson W. Rawson 1886–1888 George Goschen 1888–1890 Thomas Graham Balfour 1890–1892 Frederic J. Mouat 1892–1894 Charles Booth 1894–1896 The Lord Farrer 1896–1897 John Biddulph Martin 1897 Alfred Edmund Bateman 1897–1899 Leonard Courtney 1899–1900 Henry Fowler 1900–1902 The Lord Avebury
20th century	1902–1904 Patrick George Craigie 1904–1905 Sir Francis Powell, Bt 1905–1906 The Earl of Onslow 1906–1907 Richard Martin 1907–1909 Sir Charles Dilke, Bt 1909–1910 Jervoise Athelstane Baines 1910–1912 Lord George Hamilton 1912–1914 Francis Ysidro Edgeworth 1914–1915 The Lord Welby 1915–1916 Lord George Hamilton 1916–1918 Bernard Mallet, Registrar General 1918–1920 Herbert Samuel 1920–1922 R. Henry Rew 1922–1924 The Lord Emmott 1924–1926 Udny Yule 1926–1928 The Viscount D'Abernon 1928–1930 A. William Flux 1930–1932 Sir Josiah Stamp 1932–1934 The Lord Meston 1934–1936 Major Greenwood 1936–1938 The Lord Kennet 1938–1940 Arthur Lyon Bowley 1940–1941 Henry William Macrosty 1941 Hector Leak 1941–1943 William Beveridge 1943–1945 Ernest Charles Snow 1945–1947 The Lord Woolton 1947–1949 David Heron 1949–1950 Sir Geoffrey Heyworth 1950–1952 Austin Bradford Hill 1952–1954 Ronald Fisher 1954–1955 The Lord Piercy 1955–1957 Egon Pearson 1957–1959 Harry Campion 1959–1960 Hugh Beaver 1960–1962 Maurice Kendall 1962–1964 Joseph Oscar Irwin 1964–1965 Sir Paul Chambers 1965–1966 L. H. C. Tippett 1966–1967 M. S. Bartlett 1967–1968 Frank Yates 1968–1969 Arthur Cockfield 1969–1970 R. G. D. Allen 1970–1971 Bernard Benjamin 1971–1972 George Alfred Barnard 1972–1973 Harold Wilson 1973–1974 D. J. Finney 1974–1975 Henry Daniels 1975–1977 Stella Cunliffe 1977–1978 Henry Wynn 1978–1980 Sir Claus Moser 1980–1982 David Cox 1982–1984 Peter Armitage 1984–1985 Walter Bodmer 1985–1986 John Nelder 1986–1987 James Durbin 1987–1989 John Kingman 1989–1991 Peter G. Moore 1991–1993 T. M. F. Smith 1993–1995 D. J. Bartholomew 1995–1997 Adrian Smith 1997–1999 Robert Nicholas Curnow 1999–2001 Denise Lievesley
21st century	2001–2003 Peter Green 2003–2005 Andy Grieve 2005–2007 Tim Holt 2008–2009 David Hand 2010–2010 Bernard Silverman (resigned Feb 2010; replaced pro tem by David Hand) 2011–2012 Valerie Isham 2013–2014 John Pullinger 2014–2016 Peter Diggle 2017–2018 David Spiegelhalter 2019– Deborah Ashby
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Life

The Claus Moser Research Centre

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References

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