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{{distinguish|Washington F. Willcox}}
{{short description|American mathematician}}
{{short description|American mathematician}}
{{Infobox economist
{{Infobox economist
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| caption =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date |1861|3|22|mf=y}}
| birth_date = {{birth date |1861|3|22|mf=y}}
| birth_place =
| birth_place =[[Reading, Massachusetts]]
| death_date = {{death date and age |1964|10|30| 1861|3|22|mf=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age |1964|10|30| 1861|3|22|mf=y}}
| death_place =
| death_place =[[Ithaca, New York]]
| nationality = [[United States|American]]
| nationality = [[United States|American]]
| institution = [[Cornell University]] <!-- or: | institutions = -->
| institution = [[Cornell University]] <!-- or: | institutions = -->
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|education=[[Amherst College]]<br>[[Columbia University]]}}
|education=[[Amherst College]]<br>[[Columbia University]]}}


'''Walter Francis Willcox''' (March 22, 1861 – October 30, 1964)<ref>{{cite journal|last = Rice|first = Stuart A|author-link = Stuart A. Rice|title = Walter Francis Willcox, March 28, 1861 - October 30, 1964|journal = Revue de l'Institut International de Statistique / Review of the International Statistical Institute|volume = 32|issue = 3|pages = 340–346|publisher = ISI|year = 1964|jstor = 1401885}}</ref> was an American statistician. He was born in [[Reading, Massachusetts]], to William Henry Willcox and Anne Holmes Goodenow. He was graduated from [[Phillips Academy]], [[Andover, Massachusetts|Andover]], in 1880, from [[Amherst College]] in 1884 with an [[A.B.]], and in 1888 received an A.M. degree from [[Amherst College]]. He received an LL.B degree (1887) and a Ph.D. (1891) from [[Columbia University]]. In 1906 he received an honorary LL.D. degree from [[Amherst College]].<ref>{{cite journal|last = Leonard|first = William R.|title = Walter Francis Willcox: Statist|journal = The American Statistician|volume = 15|issue = 1|pages = 16–19|publisher = American Statistical Association|year = 1961|jstor = 2682503|doi = 10.2307/2682503}}</ref>
'''Walter Francis Willcox''' (March 22, 1861 – October 30, 1964)<ref>{{cite journal|last = Rice|first = Stuart A|author-link = Stuart A. Rice|title = Walter Francis Willcox, March 28, 1861 - October 30, 1964|journal = Revue de l'Institut International de Statistique / Review of the International Statistical Institute|volume = 32|issue = 3|pages = 340–346|publisher = ISI|year = 1964|jstor = 1401885}}</ref> was an American statistician. He was professor of economics at Cornell University.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=1964 |title=Walter Willcox, an Economist, 103; Ex‐Cornell Professor Dies —Aide for Census Unit |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/10/31/archives/walter-willcox-an-economist-103-excornell-professor-dies-aide-for.html |work=New York Times}}</ref> He founded the statistical research office in the [[United States Census Bureau|U.S. Census Bureau]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Anderson |first=Margo J. |title=Walter Francis Willcox |date=2001 |work=Statisticians of the Centuries |pages=265–267 |editor-last=Heyde |editor-first=C. C. |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0179-0_56 |publisher=Springer |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-4613-0179-0_56 |isbn=978-1-4613-0179-0 |editor2-last=Seneta |editor2-first=E. |editor3-last=Crépel |editor3-first=P. |editor4-last=Fienberg |editor4-first=S. E.}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
He was born in [[Reading, Massachusetts]], to William Henry Willcox, a congregational minister,<ref name=":0" /> and Anne Holmes Goodenow. He was graduated from [[Phillips Academy]], [[Andover, Massachusetts|Andover]], in 1880, from [[Amherst College]] in 1884 with an [[A.B.]], and in 1888 received an A.M. degree from [[Amherst College]]. He received an LL.B degree (1887) and a Ph.D. (1891) from [[Columbia University]]. In 1906 he received an honorary LL.D. degree from [[Amherst College]].<ref>{{cite journal|last = Leonard|first = William R.|title = Walter Francis Willcox: Statist|journal = The American Statistician|volume = 15|issue = 1|pages = 16–19|publisher = American Statistical Association|year = 1961|jstor = 2682503|doi = 10.2307/2682503}}</ref>


==Life==
==Life==
Willcox was a [[Cornell University]] faculty member from 1891 to 1931 within the [[President White School of History and Political Science]]. He held the presidency of the [[American Statistical Association]] from 1911 to 1912 and of the [[American Economic Association]] in 1915. As well as essays and magazine articles, he published ''The Divorce Problem, A Study in Statistics'' (1891; second edition, 1897), and ''Supplementary Analysis and Derivative Tables'', twelfth census (1906). He contributed the "Negroes in the United States" subsection to the "Negro" article <ref>{{cite EB1911 |last=Joyce |first=Thomas Athol |authorlink=Thomas Athol Joyce |wstitle=Negro |volume=19 |pages=344–346}}</ref> in the 1911 [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|Encyclopædia Britannica]]. (The main section, by [[Thomas Athol Joyce]],
Willcox was a [[Cornell University]] faculty member from 1891 to 1931.<ref name=":0" /> He was initially an instructor in philosophy but became a professor of economics at Cornell.<ref name=":0" /> He held the presidency of the [[American Statistical Association]] from 1911 to 1912 and of the [[American Economic Association]] in 1915.

He published ''The Divorce Problem, A Study in Statistics'' (1891; second edition, 1897).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Edgeworth |first=F. Y. |last2=Willcox |first2=W. F. |date=1892 |title=The Divorce Problem. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/2956158?origin=crossref |journal=The Economic Journal |volume=2 |issue=6 |pages=341 |doi=10.2307/2956158}}</ref> In his research on [[divorce]], he estimated that one in 12 marriages in the United States ended in divorce in 1909 and that if trends continued, approximately one in two marriages would end in divorce.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1909 |title=Divorce Statistics |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/01/13/archives/divorce-statistics.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>

He also published ''Supplementary Analysis and Derivative Tables'', twelfth census (1906). He contributed the "Negroes in the United States" subsection to the "Negro" article <ref>{{cite EB1911 |last=Joyce |first=Thomas Athol |authorlink=Thomas Athol Joyce |wstitle=Negro |volume=19 |pages=344–346}}</ref> in the 1911 [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|Encyclopædia Britannica]]. (The main section, by [[Thomas Athol Joyce]],
is of interest today for the insight it gives into racial prejudices of the time.)
is of interest today for the insight it gives into racial prejudices of the time.)


Willcox initiated the first [[statistics]] course at Cornell in 1892, one of the earliest university courses in statistics in the United States, and one among 16 universities with such courses in the 1890s.<ref>{{cite journal|last = Leonard|first =W.R.|journal = Op. Cit.|page = 16}}</ref> His research interest was in vital statistics. [[Emil Julius Gumbel]] described his body of work, collected in Studies in American Demography, as "the type of old-fashioned writings which will continue to be of value notwithstanding all progress achieved in mathematical statistics."<ref>{{cite journal|last = Gumbel|first = E. J.|author-link = Emil Julius Gumbel|title = Review of Studies in American Demography|journal = The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science|volume = 218|issue = 1|page = 239|publisher = American Academy of Political and Social Science|year = 1941|url = http://ann.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/218/1/239|access-date = 2010-05-31|doi=10.1177/000271624121800175|s2cid = 143243591}}</ref>
Willcox initiated the first [[statistics]] course at Cornell in 1892, one of the earliest university courses in statistics in the United States, and one among 16 universities with such courses in the 1890s.<ref>{{cite journal|last = Leonard|first =W.R.|journal = Op. Cit.|page = 16}}</ref> His research interest was in vital statistics. [[Emil Julius Gumbel]] described his body of work, collected in Studies in American Demography, as "the type of old-fashioned writings which will continue to be of value notwithstanding all progress achieved in mathematical statistics."<ref>{{cite journal|last = Gumbel|first = E. J.|author-link = Emil Julius Gumbel|title = Review of Studies in American Demography|journal = The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science|volume = 218|issue = 1|page = 239|publisher = American Academy of Political and Social Science|year = 1941|url = http://ann.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/218/1/239|access-date = 2010-05-31|doi=10.1177/000271624121800175|s2cid = 143243591}}</ref>


In 1911, Willcox claimed there would be "no children in the United States under five years of age" by the year 2020. Perpetuating ideas of [[race suicide]], Willcox erroneously explained that the United States' birth rate meant that importing babies from France would be the only option for maintaining population levels.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/58987567/ |title=2 Jan 1911, Page 2 - Fort Scott Daily Tribune and Fort Scott Daily Monitor at |publisher=Newspapers.com |date=1911-01-02 |accessdate=2022-06-05}}</ref>
In 1911, Willcox claimed there would be "no children in the United States under five years of age" by the year 2020. Perpetuating ideas of [[race suicide]], Willcox erroneously explained that the United States' birth rate meant that importing babies from France would be the only option for maintaining population levels.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/58987567/ |title=2 Jan 1911, Page 2 - Fort Scott Daily Tribune and Fort Scott Daily Monitor at |publisher=Newspapers.com |date=1911-01-02 |accessdate=2022-06-05}}</ref>


After serving as one of five chief statisticians for the [[1900 United States census|U.S. Census in 1900]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/research/census/1890/1890-delaware.html|title = 1890 Census, Delaware|date = 15 August 2016}}</ref> Willcox proved that for any method of [[Congressional apportionment|apportionment]] that involves rounding, a priority list can be created by dividing the rounding point into each state's population,<ref>[https://thirty-thousand.org/documents/CRS_OCT2000.pdf Documents] Thirty-Thousand.org {{dead link|date=July 2023}}</ref> by which each seat can be assigned in successive order based on each state's priority listings.
After serving as one of five chief statisticians for the [[1900 United States census|U.S. Census in 1900]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/research/census/1890/1890-delaware.html|title = 1890 Census, Delaware|date = 15 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=Wesley C. |date=1900 |title=Preparations for the Twelfth Census |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/250680 |journal=Journal of Political Economy |language=en |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=378–384 |doi=10.1086/250680 |issn=0022-3808}}</ref> Willcox proved that for any method of [[Congressional apportionment|apportionment]] that involves rounding, a priority list can be created by dividing the rounding point into each state's population,<ref>[https://thirty-thousand.org/documents/CRS_OCT2000.pdf Documents] Thirty-Thousand.org {{dead link|date=July 2023}}</ref> by which each seat can be assigned in successive order based on each state's priority listings.

Willcox was an advocate for reducing the number of seats in the House of Representatives.<ref name=":0" /> He proposed to reduce one seat per year.<ref name=":0" />

Willcox died in Ithaca, New York.<ref name=":0" />


His son, [[Alan Willcox]], served as general counsel to the [[U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare]].
His son, [[Alan Willcox]], served as general counsel to the [[U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare]].

Revision as of 20:20, 30 March 2024

Not to be confused with Washington F. Willcox.
Walter F. Willcox
Born(1861-03-22)March 22, 1861
Reading, Massachusetts
DiedOctober 30, 1964(1964-10-30) (aged 103)
Ithaca, New York
NationalityAmerican
EducationAmherst College
Columbia University
ChildrenAlan Willcox
Academic career
InstitutionCornell University
Doctoral
advisor		Richmond Mayo-Smith
Doctoral
students		Allyn Abbott Young

Walter Francis Willcox (March 22, 1861 – October 30, 1964)[1] was an American statistician. He was professor of economics at Cornell University.[2] He founded the statistical research office in the U.S. Census Bureau.[3]

Early life and education

He was born in Reading, Massachusetts, to William Henry Willcox, a congregational minister,[2] and Anne Holmes Goodenow. He was graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover, in 1880, from Amherst College in 1884 with an A.B., and in 1888 received an A.M. degree from Amherst College. He received an LL.B degree (1887) and a Ph.D. (1891) from Columbia University. In 1906 he received an honorary LL.D. degree from Amherst College.[4]

Life

Willcox was a Cornell University faculty member from 1891 to 1931.[2] He was initially an instructor in philosophy but became a professor of economics at Cornell.[2] He held the presidency of the American Statistical Association from 1911 to 1912 and of the American Economic Association in 1915.

He published The Divorce Problem, A Study in Statistics (1891; second edition, 1897).[5] In his research on divorce, he estimated that one in 12 marriages in the United States ended in divorce in 1909 and that if trends continued, approximately one in two marriages would end in divorce.[6]

He also published Supplementary Analysis and Derivative Tables, twelfth census (1906). He contributed the "Negroes in the United States" subsection to the "Negro" article [7] in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. (The main section, by Thomas Athol Joyce, is of interest today for the insight it gives into racial prejudices of the time.)

Willcox initiated the first statistics course at Cornell in 1892, one of the earliest university courses in statistics in the United States, and one among 16 universities with such courses in the 1890s.[8] His research interest was in vital statistics. Emil Julius Gumbel described his body of work, collected in Studies in American Demography, as "the type of old-fashioned writings which will continue to be of value notwithstanding all progress achieved in mathematical statistics."[9]

In 1911, Willcox claimed there would be "no children in the United States under five years of age" by the year 2020. Perpetuating ideas of race suicide, Willcox erroneously explained that the United States' birth rate meant that importing babies from France would be the only option for maintaining population levels.[10]

After serving as one of five chief statisticians for the U.S. Census in 1900,[11][12] Willcox proved that for any method of apportionment that involves rounding, a priority list can be created by dividing the rounding point into each state's population,[13] by which each seat can be assigned in successive order based on each state's priority listings.

Willcox was an advocate for reducing the number of seats in the House of Representatives.[2] He proposed to reduce one seat per year.[2]

Willcox died in Ithaca, New York.[2]

His son, Alan Willcox, served as general counsel to the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

Publications

  • Studies in American Demography, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press (1940).
  • International Migrations, Volume II: Interpretations (Editor), New York: National Bureau of Economic Research (1931).
  • Walter Francis Willcox papers, #14-10-504. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

References

  1. ^ Rice, Stuart A (1964). "Walter Francis Willcox, March 28, 1861 - October 30, 1964". Revue de l'Institut International de Statistique / Review of the International Statistical Institute. 32 (3). ISI: 340–346. JSTOR 1401885.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Walter Willcox, an Economist, 103; Ex‐Cornell Professor Dies —Aide for Census Unit". New York Times. 1964.
  3. ^ Anderson, Margo J. (2001), Heyde, C. C.; Seneta, E.; Crépel, P.; Fienberg, S. E. (eds.), "Walter Francis Willcox", Statisticians of the Centuries, Springer, pp. 265–267, doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-0179-0_56, ISBN 978-1-4613-0179-0
  4. ^ Leonard, William R. (1961). "Walter Francis Willcox: Statist". The American Statistician. 15 (1). American Statistical Association: 16–19. doi:10.2307/2682503. JSTOR 2682503.
  5. ^ Edgeworth, F. Y.; Willcox, W. F. (1892). "The Divorce Problem". The Economic Journal. 2 (6): 341. doi:10.2307/2956158.
  6. ^ "Divorce Statistics". New York Times. 1909.
  7. ^ Joyce, Thomas Athol (1911). "Negro" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 344–346.
  8. ^ Leonard, W.R. Op. Cit.: 16. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ Gumbel, E. J. (1941). "Review of Studies in American Demography". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 218 (1). American Academy of Political and Social Science: 239. doi:10.1177/000271624121800175. S2CID 143243591. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
  10. ^ "2 Jan 1911, Page 2 - Fort Scott Daily Tribune and Fort Scott Daily Monitor at". Newspapers.com. 1911-01-02. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  11. ^ "1890 Census, Delaware". 15 August 2016.
  12. ^ Mitchell, Wesley C. (1900). "Preparations for the Twelfth Census". Journal of Political Economy. 8 (3): 378–384. doi:10.1086/250680. ISSN 0022-3808.
  13. ^ Documents Thirty-Thousand.org [dead link]
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