born March 5, 1879, Rangpur, India
died March 16, 1963, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Eng.
British economist.
He took a lifelong interest in the problem of unemployment and served as director of labour exchanges (1909–16). He directed the London School of Economics (1919–37), then became master of University College, Oxford (1937–45). Invited by the government to become the architect of the new British welfare state , he helped shape Britain's social policies and institutions through the Beveridge Report (1942). His books included Insurance for All (1924), Full Employment in a Free Society (1944), and Pillars of Security (1948).