Beveridge and the brief life of 'Social Biology' at the LSE

Abstract

Sir William Beveridge, 1879-1963, was a distinguished figure in the history of public policy. His 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services widely known as the Beveridge Report played a key role in the development of the British welfare state. He was earlier the Director (equivalent to a Vice Chancellor of a British or Australian university) of the London School of Economics. This role throws interesting light both on Beveridge himself, and on issues relating to the financial support of academic research in Britain in the 1930s.