The director of the Bureau of the Census is the chief administrator of the United States Census Bureau. 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.
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 year1Thomas Jefferson17902John Marshall18003Robert Smith18104John Quincy Adams18205Martin 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 office1William Augustus Weaver18402Joseph Camp Griffith Kennedy1850–18533James Dunwoody Brownson DeBow1853–18554Joseph Camp Griffith Kennedy1860–1865
Superintendents of the Census The Census Bureau maintains biographies in their Agency History section. OrderImageNameIn office1Francis Amasa Walker18702Francis Amasa Walker1879–18813Charles W. Seaton1881–18854Robert Percival Porter1889–18935Carroll D. Wright1893–18976William Rush Merriam1899–1902
Directors of the Census Bureau The Census Bureau became a permanent agency in 1902. OrderImageNameIn office1William Rush Merriam1902–19032Simon Newton Dexter North1903–19093Edward Dana Durand1909–19134William J. Harris1913–19155Samuel Lyle Rogers1915–19216William Mott Steuart1921–19337William Lane Austin1933–19418James Clyde Capt1941–19499Roy Victor Peel1950–195310Robert Wilbur Burgess1953–196111Richard M. Scammon1961–196512A. Ross Eckler1965–196913George Hay Brown1969–197314Vincent Barabba1973–197615Manuel D. Plotkin1977–1979–Vincent Barabba1979–198116Bruce Chapman1981–198317John G. Keane1984–198718Barbara Everitt Bryant1989–199319Martha Farnsworth RicheOctober 1994 – January 1998–James HolmesJames Holmes, who is African American, was named acting director on a temporary basis in 1998 after the resignation of Martha Riche. Robert Santos is confirmed as Census Bureau's first Latino director, Associated Press, Nov 5, 2021January 1998 – October 199820Kenneth Prewitt1998–200121Charles Louis KincannonMarch 13, 2002 – January 3, 200822Steve H. MurdockJanuary 4, 2008 – January 9, 2009–Thomas MesenbourgJanuary 9, 2009 – July 15, 200923Robert M. GrovesJuly 15, 2009 – August 11, 2012–Thomas MesenbourgAugust 11, 2012 – August 8, 201324John H. ThompsonAugust 8, 2013 – June 30, 2017–Ron JarminJune 30, 2017 – January 7, 201925Steven DillinghamJanuary 7, 2019 – January 20, 2021–Ron Jarmin January 20, 2021 – January 5, 202226Robert Santos January 5, 2022 – January 31, 2025–Ron Jarmin January 31, 2025 – September 19, 2025–George Cook September 19, 2025 – Present
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