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John Koren (1861–1923) was an American clergyman and statistician.

Education and career

John Koren was born in Iowa as one of nine children of the Norwegian-American church leader Ulrik Vilhelm Koren. He was an 1879 graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and an 1882 graduate of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, with a degree in divinity. Most of his later life, he spent in public service as a government employee for the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and the City of Boston's statistics department.

As a statistician, Koren's interests lay in social welfare and the description of societal problems, e.g. prison inhabitants, crimes, and alcoholism.

Koren served as president of the American Statistical Association in 1913–14. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of this association in 1914, he edited a book about the history of official statistics in various countries. The volume was delayed due to World War I and was finally published in 1918.

In 1923, shortly before his death, Koren completed a concise history of the City of Boston, Massachusetts, at the occasion of the centennial celebration of the city. He committed suicide by jumping overboard the Holland-America liner Nieuw Amsterdam.

Recognition

He was named a Fellow of the American Statistical Association in 1914.

References

1. ^ Christianson, John Robert (2008). "Koren, Ulrik Vilhelm". The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa. University of Iowa Press. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
2. ^ Hatheway, Allen W.; Speight, Thomas B. (2018). "4.3.4 John Koren and the Early History of Gas Lighting in Boston". Manufactured Gas Plant Remediation: A Case Study. CRC Press. ISBN 9781498796835.
3. Koren, John (1907). Prisoners and Juvenile Delinquents in Institutions 1904. U.S. Bureau of the Census. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
4. Koren, John (1914). "Crime - From a Statistical Viewpoint". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 52 (1): 83–88. doi:10.1177/000271621405200109. S2CID 143662344.
5. Koren, John (1916). Alcohol and society. Henry Holt and Company. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
6. Spreadsheet with list of ASA presidents, American Statistical Association, retrieved 2021-05-25
7. Koren, John, ed. (1918). The History of Statistics, their Development and Progress in Many Countries. Macmillan Company. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
8. Koren, John (1923). Boston, 1822 to 1922. The Story of Its Government and Principal Activities During One Hundred Years. City of Boston printing department. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
9. "Leaps off Liner to Death in Sea; Passengers See Suicide of John Koren of International Prison Commission". The New York Times. 1923-11-18. Retrieved 2021-05-25.

• 1861 births
• 1923 deaths
• American statisticians
• Fellows of the American Statistical Association
• Presidents of the American Statistical Association
• Suicides by drowning