Nathan Keyfitz FRSC FRSS (June 29, 1913 – April 6, 2010) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

demographer, a pioneer of mathematical demography......

Professional career

Keyfitz studied at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, graduating with a B.S. in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

in 1934. He worked for the

Dominion Bureau of Statistics The Dominion Bureau of Statistics was a Canadian government organization responsible for conducting Census in Canada, censuses. It was formed in 1918 by the Statistics Act, but was replaced by Statistics Canada in 1971. The Dominion Statisticians w ...

in Canada from 1936 to 1959, meanwhile earning a Ph.D. in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1952. In 1959, he took a professorship at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

; he moved from there to the University of Chicago and the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

before joining the faculty of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

as Andelot Professor of Sociology in 1972. From 1978 to 1980 he served as Director of th
Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies
He retired from Harvard in 1981, only to take another faculty position at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

and then to direct the Population Program at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria from 1983 to 1993. He also consulted frequently in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

over a period of many years. He was president of the Population Association of America from 1970 to 1971.

Awards and honors

Keyfitz was a fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

, the

Royal Statistical Society The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good. ...

, the

American Statistical Association The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 27, 1839, and is the second-oldest continuous ...

, and the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. He was given seven honorary doctorates, won the Mindel C. Sheps Award of the Population Association of America in 1976, and won the Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service in 1991.. In June 2013, a symposium on mathematical demography was held in honor of the centennial of his birth.The Keyfitz Centennial Symposium on Mathematical Demography (June 24-28, 2013)
retrieved 2013-01-027.

Books

*''Introduction to the Mathematics of Population'' (Addison-Wesley, 1968). . *''World Population: An Analysis of Vital Data'' (with Wilhelm Flieger, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1968). . *''Population: Facts and Methods of Demography'' (with Wilhelm Flieger, W.H. Freeman and Company, 1971) *''Applied Mathematical Demography'' (Springer-Verlag, 1977) *''Population Change and Social Policy'' (Abt Books, 1982) *''World Population Growth and Aging: Demographic Trends in the Late Twentieth Century'' (with Wilhelm Flieger, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1990)

Personal

Keyfitz's daughter, Barbara Keyfitz, is a notable mathematician.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keyfitz, Nathan 1913 births 2010 deaths Canadian sociologists Canadian demographers McGill University Faculty of Science alumni University of Chicago alumni Academic staff of the University of Toronto University of Chicago faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty Harvard University faculty Ohio State University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Statistical Association Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Fellows of the Royal Statistical Society Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences People from Montreal McGill University alumni