Alexander McFarlane Mood was born May 31, 1913. He graduated from the University of Texas with a B.A. (1934) in physics and received his Ph.D. (1940) from Princeton University in mathematics. Mood was a statistical consultant and professor for many years and received several awards for his work with statistics. This work included assessments of education and public policy research, operations research, and systems analysis. Following his education, he taught at several prominent universities, including the University of Texas, Princeton University, Brown University, and Iowa State University. At Iowa State he served as Research Associate Professor (1945-1948) of mathematics and statistics at Iowa State College (University), working primarily in the Statistical Laboratory.

Besides his work in academia, Mood also did extensive research for the government working in both the public and private sectors. He worked for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Applied Mathematics Panel of the National Defense Research Council, and later in his career served as Assistant Commissioner for Education Statistics in the Office of Education and as director of the National Center for Education Statistics. He was hired as Deputy Chief (1948-1955) of the Mathematics Division for the Rand Corporation. Mood also founded and headed a company, General Analysis Corporation, which was acquired by CEIR (formerly the Council for Economic and Industry Research) in 1960. After the merger, Mood became vice president of CEIR and oversaw the western division.

Mood was a member of several professional organizations, most notably the American Statistical Association from which he received the Samuel S. Wilks Award (1979). He served as President (1957) of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and as President (1964) of the Operations Research Society of America. He was also a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the International Statistical Institute.

Mood also made a name for himself as an author of scholarly articles and books. He authored Introduction to Policy Analysis (North Holland, 1983, call no. H97.M66 1983) and wrote the popular textbook, Introduction to the Theory of Statistics (McGraw-Hill, 1950, call no. QA286 M77i). He authored or co-authored numerous articles in the field of statistics. Mood also wrote an autobiography, A Math Path (call no. QA276.157 M66 A3 2008x) that he independently published shortly before his death.

Alexander MacFarlane Mood died on April 26, 2009.

This collection (1939-2008, n.d.) contains biographical information about and writings by Alex M. Mood. The biographical material consists of excerpts from AMSTAT News, a newsletter published by the American Statistical Association, regarding Mood's awards and achievements and a chapter from his autobiography in which he tells of his time at Iowa State. The scientific papers in the collection authored or co-authored by Mood cover topics ranging from statistical analyses of the American educational system to operational war gaming.

The collection is listed alphabetically with biographical information at the front.