Jan Hoem

Jan Michael Hoem (17 April 1939 – 25 February 2017) was a Norwegian scientist in population studies.

Early life On 17 April 1939, Hoem was born in Kristiansund, Norway. Hoem studied actuarial science and mathematical statistics in Oslo, and was awarded a Dr.philos. in 1969.

Career In 1961, Hoem's academic career began in teaching and Research Assistantships in Statistics at University of Oslo. Currently he is working as Professor Emeritus at the Stockholm University Demography Unit

Before he took his Dr.philos degree, he published a book called “Basic Concepts of Formal Demography”, which became the standard introductory text in demography in Norway. His article on Markov chain models has been named one of the four most significant papers in modern actuarial science. Hoem also made contributions to stochastic stable population theory, demographic incidence rates, and the statistical analysis of multiplicative models. He is best known for his work on event-history analysis—contributions that have helped shape demographic methodology.

Later in his career, Hoem turned towards social demography. In his papers on the impact of social policies on fertility, Hoem showed that the stringent application of appropriate methods to individual-level data greatly improve our understanding of the link between public policies, demographic behavior, and demographic outcomes.

He died on 25 February 2017 in Stockholm after a long illness.

Awards In 2006 he was awarded the IUSSP Laureate Award in recognition of his achievements in scientific research.