Dickinson, Frank G.

YEARS IN THE DEPARTMENT:

1921-1946

RESEARCH INTEREST:

Statistics, Labor Economics

BIOSKETCH:

Frank Greene Dickinson came to the University of Illinois as an undergraduate student in 1917, and completed his bachelor's degree in 1921. After earning his master’s degree at Pennsylvania State University, he returned to the University of Illinois and received his doctorate in Statistics in 1927. While earning his PhD, Dickinson began teaching on the Department of Economics faculty.

From 1922 to 1946, Professor Dickinson would teach economics in the Department, and brought statistics to a nationally recognized level at Illinois. His circle model for teaching mathematics was widely used to teach Army recruits mathematics during World War II, and received acclaim from academics nationwide. He also developed the Dickinson Football Rating System, which was used by universities around the country for many years.

Professor Dickinson's areas of scholarly research and study included Social Security, Insurance, and Business Cycles. He would author numerous articles and reviews, including the award-winning “The Social Security Principle.” Dickinson was also a leading advocate for pension tax equality, and gave more pages of testimony on the subject to the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee than any other person in the country.

In 1946, he would leave Illinois to direct research in medicine and philanthropy for the American Medical Association and the National Bureau of Economic Research. In 1962, he would return to teaching at Northern Illinois University, serving in such capacity for the remainder of his career. Frank G. Dickinson would retire in 1967, and was deceased later that same year, on September 22, 1967, at the age of 68.

PHD:

University of Illinois, 1927

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Dickinson, Frank G, and Franzy Eakin. The Illinois Segment of the Nation's Economy for 1935: A Bookkeeping Picture. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1940. Print.
Dickinson, Frank G, and Everett L. Welker. Mortality Trends in the United States, 1900-1949. Chicago: American Medical Assn, 1952. Print.
Dickinson, Frank G. The Changing Position of Philanthropy in the American Economy. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research; distributed by Columbia University Press, 1970. Print.
Dickinson, Frank G. Public Construction and Cyclical Unemployment. Philadelphia, 1928. Print.
Dickinson, Frank G, and Franzy Eakin. A Balance Sheet of the Nation's Economy. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1936. Print.

VITA:

Not available