Francis A. Walker

Francis Amasa Walker (1840–1897) was an American economist, statistician, and educator. He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and later became a leading public administrator and academic. Walker was Superintendent of the U.S. Census for the 1870 and 1880 enumerations, helping shape modern federal statistical practice. He also taught political economy and wrote influential works on wages, distribution, and monetary questions. In 1881 he became president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he strengthened the institute’s finances, expanded enrollment, and promoted professional scientific and engineering education. He remained associated with MIT until his death in 1897.