Isador Lubin
Commissioner of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
In office
July 1933 – January 1946
PresidentFranklin Delano Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Preceded byEthelbert Stewart
Succeeded byAryness Joy Wickens
(Acting)
Personal details
Born9 June 1896
Died6 July 1978 (1978-07-07) (aged 82)
ChildrenAlice Lubin Everitt
Ann Lubin Buttenwieser
Alma materInstitute of Economics, later made part of the Brookings Institution

Isador Lubin (9 June 1896 – 6 July 1978) was the head of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics from 1933 to 1946, and president of the American Statistical Association in 1946.

Career

Isador Lubin in 1937

During the First World War, at the U.S. Food Administration, Lubin analyzed labor and price policy related to food production for the Allied Nations. Later at the War Industries Board’s Price Section, he studied the effect of price shifts on the output of the petroleum and rubber industries.[1][2]

He was as an instructor at the Institute of Economics and earned a Ph.D. there in 1926. It became part of the Brookings Institution in 1927. Lubin's book Miners' Wages and the Cost of Coal was accepted as a dissertation.[1]

"In 1932, as adviser to Senator Robert M. La Follette Jr., he pioneered the notion of government responsibility for the national accounts."[1]

Lubin was appointed head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) by Frances Perkins in July 1933 and stayed in the position until January 1946.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] For much of this time, Lubin had an office in the White House's West Wing "and served as special statistical adviser to President Franklin Roosevelt."[1] Lubin was sometimes described as a member of President Roosevelt's "brain trust."[10] In 1944 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.[11]

In 1941 Lubin authorized BLS to start a research group at Harvard University directed by Wassily Leontief which constructed the first official table of U.S. industry inputs and outputs." In 1945, Roosevelt appointed Lubin as Minister to the Allied Reparations Commission.[1]

"In his presidential address to the American Statistical Society in January [1947], Lubin emphasized [the role] of statistics in modern economic society and the value to the free world of pertinent data."[1]

Lubin was appointed the Industrial Commissioner of New York state from 1955 to 1958 by Governor W. Averell Harriman.[12]

Personal and legacy

In 1952 Lubin married the former Carol Riegelman (1909-2005), a longtime consultant to the UN/ILO.[13] He had two daughters by a previous marriage to Ann Shumaker Lubin, the editor of "Progressive Education" and co-author of the book, "The Child-Centered School" (1928):[14] Alice Lubin Everitt and Ann Lubin Buttenwieser.[15]

Fellowships named for Dr. Lubin were established at Brandeis University and The New School.[16][17][18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wasser, Solidelle F; Michael L Dolfman (2005-06-01). "BLS and the Marshall Plan: The Forgotten Story" (PDF). Monthly Labor Review. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  2. ^ a b BLS history, Commissioners Isador Lubin at bls.gov
  3. ^ Blumberg, Barbara (1999). "Isador Lubin". American National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  4. ^ McKinzie, Richard D (1974-06-26). "Dr. Isador Lubin Oral History Interview". Truman Library. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  5. ^ Remembering Isador Lubin, 1896-1978: some tributes and recollections gathered for his friends. 1980. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  6. ^ "Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., Chairman of U.S. Steel. Isador Lubin, left, Commissioner of Labor Statistics. Leon Henderson, right, new S.E.C. Commissioner". Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Catalog. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  7. ^ "Map depicts significant story on pickup in American industry. Washington, D.C. March 30. Tow lines on this chart hanging in the office of Isador Lubin, Commissioner of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, tell a significant story of the pickup ..." Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Catalog. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  8. ^ Lubin, Isador (1939). "Economic trends: testimony of Isador Lubin, United States Commissioner of Labor Statistics, before the Temporary National Economic Committee". U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  9. ^ "National Affairs: New Adviser". TIME. 1941-05-26. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  10. ^ Hess, John L (1978-07-08). "ISADOR LUBIN DIES, 82 - IN 'BRAIN TRUST' - Economist for Roosevelt Served on United Nations Missions". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  11. ^ View/Search Fellows of the ASA Archived 2016-06-16 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 2016-07-23.
  12. ^ "Papers of Isador Lubin". Franklin D. Roosevelt Library & Museum. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  13. ^ "Commemorative Chairs: Isador and Carol Lubin". Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  14. ^ "Isador Lubin Biography & Articles". Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  15. ^ "Carol Riegelman Lubin Papers, 1909-2005: A Finding Aid". Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Harvard University Library. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  16. ^ "Dr. Isidor Lubin Honored on 70th Birthday; Lauded for His Activities". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  17. ^ Tuition and Financial Aid Archived 2013-12-16 at the Wayback Machine at Brandeis International Business School
  18. ^ "Scholarships and Awards: Isador Lubin Fellowship". The New School for Public Engagement. Retrieved 2013-12-08.

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