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W. Allen Wallis

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W. Allen Wallis
2nd Chancellor of the University of Rochester
In office
1970–1982
Preceded byIra Harris
1st CEO of the University of Rochester
In office
1970–1975
Succeeded byRobert L. Sproull
6th President of the University of Rochester
In office
1962–1970
Preceded byCornelis W. de Kiewiet
Succeeded byRobert L. Sproull
10th Under Secretary of State for Economic and Agricultural Affairs
In office
September 23, 1982 – January 20, 1989
Preceded byMyer Rashish
Succeeded byRichard T. McCormack
Personal details
Born(1912-11-05)November 5, 1912
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DiedOctober 12, 1998(1998-10-12) (aged 85)
Rochester, New York
NationalityAmerican
Political partyIndependent (until 1984)[1] Republican (1984–1998)[2]
SpouseAnne Armstrong
ChildrenNancy Wallis Ingling
Virginia Wallis Cates
Parent(s)Wilson Dallam Wallis, Grace Steele Allen
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota, The University of Chicago
ProfessionAdministrator

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.

Early years

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Born 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

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Wallis Hall on the University of Rochester campus

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.

January 1988 memo identifying Wallis as President Reagan's "personal representative" for policy matters during the administration's preparations for attending the 14th G7 summit in June.

Presidential advisor

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In 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

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  • 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

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References

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  1. ^ Pace, Eric (14 October 1998). "W. Allen Wallis, 85, Economist and President of U. Of Rochester". The New York Times.
  2. ^ "W. ALLEN WALLIS" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ R. M. Hartwell, A History of the Mont Pelerin Society, Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1995, pp. 66–7.
  5. ^ "Retired UR president Wallis dies", Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, pp. 1B, 1998-10-13, ISSN 1088-5153
  6. ^ "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
  7. ^ W. Allen Wallis Institute of Political Economy (1998-10-12). "W. A. Wallis". Rochester, New York: University of Rochester. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
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Academic offices
Preceded by Dean of the University of Chicago School of Business
1956–1962 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the University of Rochester
1962–1970 		Succeeded by
Vacant Chancellor of the University of Rochester
1970–1982 		Vacant
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by President of the American Statistical Association
1965 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Robert S. Benjamin
 Chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
1975–1978 		Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs
September 23, 1982 – August 15, 1985 		Office renamed
New office Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs
August 16, 1985 – January 20, 1989 		Succeeded by
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