John Koren
American statistician
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John Koren (March 3, 1861 in Decorah, Iowa[1]–1923)[2] 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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[3]
As a statistician, Koren's interests lay in social welfare and the description of societal problems, e.g. prison inhabitants,[4] crimes,[5] and alcoholism.[6]
Koren served as president of the American Statistical Association in 1913–14.[7] 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.[8]
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.[9] He committed suicide by jumping overboard the Holland-America liner Nieuw Amsterdam.[10]
Recognition
He was named a Fellow of the American Statistical Association in 1914.