CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

Robert Basmann

economist (1926–2024)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 9, 2026
Entity authorityQ3434521
Source-derived summary

Robert Leon Basmann (January 15, 1926 – April 18, 2024) was an American econometrician.

Biography

Robert Basmann was born in Davenport, Iowa, on January 15, 1926. He served in the United States military from 1944-1954, when he left as a reserve commissioned officer at the rank of first lieutenant in order to pursue a doctorate. He earned a Ph.D. in economics under the early econometrician Gerard Tintner from Iowa State University in 1955. He then won a Fulbright Grant to the University of Oslo and taught a year at Northwestern University. Basmann’s writings at the time made path-breaking and deep contributions to simultaneous equation models, finite sample distribution, and identification. He received credit along with Henri Thiel for the derivation of two stage least squares, an important estimation technique.

In 1963 Basmann took a position at Purdue University where he helped build a new graduate program in economics. He developed a module in modem logic to assist in the making of rigorous statistical inference. At Purdue and later Basmann helped prepare graduate students for careers the loved.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Robert Basmann” as economist (1926–2024). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1926, 2024, 1944, 1954—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1926-01-15. The account is most persuasive where Robert, Basmann and economist can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as economist (1926–2024). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3434521. VIAF identifies the subject as 218081534. The Library of Congress control number is n88141935. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1926, 2024, 1944 and 1954.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Robert Basmann”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Robert Basmann primary sources, Robert Basmann archive and Robert research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Robert Basmann”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Robert Basmann” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.