▁working ▁at ▁the ▁Central ▁Pl anning ▁Bureau . ▁The ▁sen ate ▁of ▁the ▁school ▁added ▁the ▁requirement ▁that ▁it ▁" w ould ▁not ▁conf ine ▁itself ▁to ▁economic ▁applications , ▁but ▁would ▁also ▁give ▁attention ▁to ▁business ▁problems , ▁which ▁imp lied ▁that ▁operations ▁research ▁had ▁to ▁be ▁included ▁in ▁the ▁program ." ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁year ▁ 1 9 5 5 – 5 6 ▁The il ▁was ▁Vis iting ▁Professor ▁at ▁the ▁University ▁of ▁Chicago , ▁where ▁he ▁made ▁a ▁similar ▁proposal ▁again ▁with ▁support ▁of ▁Jan ▁T in ber gen . ▁This ▁proposal ▁was ▁eventually ▁accepted ▁both ▁in ▁Chicago ▁and ▁in ▁Rot ter dam , ▁and ▁the ▁E con ometric ▁Institute ▁started ▁September ▁ 1 9 5 6 ▁in ▁Chicago ▁and ▁later ▁in ▁Rot ter dam . ▁ ▁The ▁E con ometric ▁Institute ▁was ▁the ▁first ▁research ▁inst itute ▁in ▁the ▁field ▁of ▁econ omet rics ▁in ▁the ▁world , ▁and ▁started ▁with ▁a ▁research ▁staff ▁of ▁ 6 . ▁Henri ▁The il ▁became ▁its ▁first ▁director , ▁and ▁head ed ▁the ▁inst itute ▁until ▁ 1 9 6 6 . ▁ ▁Development ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁early ▁years ▁the ▁Institute ▁developed ▁a ▁full ▁academic ▁program ▁in ▁E con omet rics . ▁The ▁program ▁originally ▁foc uss ed ▁on ▁" n ational ▁and ▁international ▁macro e conom ic ▁policy ; ▁the ▁required ▁computing ▁power ▁to ▁estimate ▁econ ometric ▁models ▁was ▁expensive ▁and ▁scarcely ▁available , ▁so ▁that ▁econ omet rics ▁was ▁almost ▁exclus ively ▁applied ▁in ▁public ▁( stat ist ical )