Director of the United States Census Bureau
Introduction The '''director of the Bureau of the Census''' is the chief administrator of the United States Census Bureau (USCB). The officeholder is appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate and assisted by the Deputy Director of the United States Census Bureau. The current director is Robert Santos.
History of the office The nominal head of the early censuses was the Secretary of State, but management responsibility was actually devolved to the U.S. marshal in each state. These marshals collected and tabulated their own returns; the Secretary of State only oversaw the final compilation and tabulation of the data.By 1840, the increasing standardization of census questionnaires and the enumeration process made it clear that more leadership at the federal level was necessary. Secretary of State John Forsyth appointed William Augustus Weaver as the first "superintending clerk of the census" in that year. Weaver and his successors oversaw the technical aspects of the census, including designing questionnaires, and more closely managed the tabulation process.By 1870, the leader of the Census Office was the "superintendent of the census." The superintendent oversaw the entire census-taking process, and usually held the position from a year before the census until the final tabulations had been published.After the Census Office became a permanent agency in 1902, the first director was the incumbent superintendent, William Rush Merriam. He set the standard for many directors of the U.S. Census Bureau over the next hundred years by focusing on external issues such as congressional testimony and leaving technical operations to the experts.In 2012, the Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011 set the term for the Census Bureau director at five years; the director can serve for up to two terms. The Census director must also "have a demonstrated ability in managing large organizations and experience in the collection, analysis, and use of statistical data."
Chronology of Census Bureau leadership The following is a chronological list of those who supervised the Census of the United States.===Secretaries of State===The Secretary of State was the nominal director of the first five censuses, responsible for supervision and compilation of each U.S. marshal's tabulation. In reality, these cabinet officers did very little actual directing. The authorizing legislation for most early censuses was very specific, and the marshals oversaw the actual enumeration process.OrderImageNameCensus year160pxThomas Jefferson1790260pxJohn Marshall1800360pxRobert Smith1810460pxJohn Quincy Adams1820560pxMartin Van Buren1830===Superintending Clerks of the Census===Beginning in 1840 and continuing for the succeeding three censuses, operations and oversight were directed by a superintending clerk of the census. Also, the Census Office shut down after it finished publishing the results of each census. Because of this, there were several periods in the nineteenth century in which there was no director.OrderImageNameIn office160pxWilliam Augustus Weaver1840260pxJoseph Camp Griffith Kennedy1850–1853360pxJames Dunwoody Brownson DeBow1853–1855460pxJoseph Camp Griffith Kennedy1860–1865===Superintendents of the Census===The Census Bureau maintains biographies in their Agency History section.OrderImageNameIn office160pxFrancis Amasa Walker1870260pxFrancis Amasa Walker1879–1881360pxCharles W. Seaton1881–1885460pxRobert Percival Porter1889–1893560pxCarroll D. Wright1893–1897660pxWilliam Rush Merriam1899–1902===Directors of the Census Bureau===The Census Bureau became a permanent agency in 1902.OrderImageNameIn office160pxWilliam Rush Merriam1902–1903260pxSimon Newton Dexter North1903–1909360pxEdward Dana Durand1909–1913460pxWilliam J. Harris1913–1915560pxSamuel Lyle Rogers1915–1921660pxWilliam Mott Steuart1921–1933760pxWilliam Lane Austin1933–1941860pxJames Clyde Capt1941–1949960pxRoy Victor Peel1950–19531060pxRobert Wilbur Burgess1953–19611160pxRichard M. Scammon1961–19651260pxA. Ross Eckler1965–19691360pxGeorge Hay Brown1969–19731460pxVincent Barabba1973–19761560pxManuel D. Plotkin1977–1979–60pxVincent Barabba1979–19811660pxBruce Chapman1981–19831760pxJohn G. Keane1984–19871860pxBarbara Everitt Bryant1989–19931960pxMartha Farnsworth RicheOctober 1994 – January 1998–60pxJames HolmesJanuary 1998 – October 19982060pxKenneth Prewitt1998–20012160pxCharles Louis KincannonMarch 13, 2002 – January 3, 20082260pxSteve H. MurdockJanuary 4, 2008 – January 9, 2009–60pxThomas MesenbourgJanuary 9, 2009 – July 15, 20092360pxRobert M. GrovesJuly 15, 2009 – August 11, 2012–60pxThomas MesenbourgAugust 11, 2012 – August 8, 20132460pxJohn H. ThompsonAugust 8, 2013 – June 30, 2017–60pxRon JarminJune 30, 2017 – January 7, 20192560pxSteven DillinghamJanuary 7, 2019 – January 20, 2021–60pxRon Jarmin January 20, 2021 – January 5, 20222660pxRobert Santos January 5, 2022 – Present
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