Claus Moser, Baron Moser

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Claus Adolf Moser, Baron Moser, KCB, CBE, is a British statistician who has made major contributions in both academia and the Civil Service.

He was born in Berlin on 24 November 1922. With the rise of the Nazis, his family managed to move to England.

He was educated at Frensham Heights School and the London School of Economics (LSE). Despite being Jewish, he was interned as an enemy alien on the outbreak of World War 2. However, he was released and served in the Royal Air Force, 1943–1946. He then returned to LSE as Assistant Lecturer, then Lecturer, in Statistics, 1946–1955; Reader in Social Statistics, 1955–1961; Professor of Social Statistics, 1961–1970; Visiting Professor of Social Statistics, 1970–1975.

In 1965, he applied for a job at the Central Statistical Office but was rejected, as his status as a former enemy alien allegedly made him a security risk. However, this did not seem to be a problem when in 1967 Harold Wilson appointed him Director of the Central Statistical Office. He was made a Knight Commander of the Bath in 1973. He resigned as Director in 1978.

He has held a very wide variety of other posts. These include:

Member, Governing Body, Royal Academy of Music, 1967–1979
BBC Music Advisory Committee, 1971–1983
Visiting Fellow, Nuffield College, Oxford (1972–1980)
Chairman, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (1974–1987)
Director, N. M. Rothschild & Sons, 1978–1990 (Vice-Chairman, 1978–1984)
President, Royal Statistical Society, 1978–1980
Chairman, Economist Intelligence Unit, 1979–1983
Warden, Wadham College, Oxford, 1984–1993
Chancellor, University of Keele, 1986–2002
Trustee, London Philharmonic Orchestra, 1988–2000
President, British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1989–1990
Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of Oxford, 1991–1993
Chairman, British Museum Development Trust, 1993–2003, now Chairman Emeritus
Chancellor, Open University of Israel, 1994–2004

He was made a Life peer with the title Baron Moser, of Regents Park in the London Borough of Camden in 2001. Other honours include the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, 1996, Commandeur de l'Ordre National du Mérite (France), 1976; Commander's Cross, Order of Merit (Germany), 1985.