Paul Lazarsfeld (1901–1976), Mathematician.

Trained mathematician Paul Lazarsfeld first went to the U.S. on a Rockefeller fellowship in 1932. An avid Socialist youth leader in his native Vienna, he pioneered systematic sociological survey research in the U.S. and became a leader in studies of mass communication and factors in people’s decision making in politics and retail.

He is often referred to as the founder of modern empirical sociology and propelled the field forward through statistical survey analysis and more. As professor of sociology at Columbia University he trained dozens of students in his sophisticated methodologies and established the famed Bureau of Social Research. His seminal book, The People's Choice, is considered a milestone in political & voting behavior research.

Financed by the Ford Foundation, Lazarsfeld along with Oskar Morgenstern also launched the “Institute of Advanced Study” (Institut für Höhere Studien) in Vienna in 1963, which became the premier training ground for Austrian social scientists.