The U.S. Census Bureau has announced three new members, two individuals and one organization, to serve on the Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations.

The National Advisory Committee advises the Census Bureau on a wide range of variables that affect the cost, accuracy and implementation of the Census Bureau’s programs and surveys, including the once-a-decade census. The committee, which is comprised of up to 32 members from multiple disciplines, held a meeting Oct. 8-9 to address counting hard-to-reach populations such as children, race and ethnic populations, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other populations.

“The expertise of this committee helps us meet the emerging challenges we face while producing statistics about our diverse nation,” Census Bureau Director John H. Thompson said. “By helping us better understand a variety of issues that affect statistical measurement, this committee will help ensure that the Census Bureau continues to provide relevant and timely statistics in an increasingly technologically oriented society.”

The National Advisory Committee has two types of membership, either individual or organization. The three new committee members/organization are:

Charles Bruner, the executive director of the Child and Family Policy Center, a nonprofit organization established in 1989 in Des Moines, Iowa. He holds master’s and doctorate degrees in political science from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree from Macalester College. He served 12 years as an Iowa state legislator.

Thomas Perls, a professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine and Geriatrics. He is a senior physician in geriatrics and cares for patients at Boston Medical Center. Perls attended the University of Rochester School of Medicine, performed his internal medicine residency at Harbor UCLA Medical Center and received his geriatrics specialty training at Mount Royal Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and at Harvard Medical School. He specializes in the study of centenarians — especially supercentenarians (ages 110-plus).

National Urban League, a nonpartisan civil rights organization based in New York that advocates on behalf of African-Americans and against racial discrimination in the United States. It is the oldest and largest community-based organization of its kind in the nation.

The committee members, who serve at the discretion of the Census Bureau director, are chosen to serve based on expertise and knowledge of the cultural patterns, issues and/or statistical needs of traditionally “hard-to-count” populations. The National Advisory Committee chair is Ditas Katague, who is the current chief of staff to the State of California Public Utilities Commissioner’s Office. Carol Gore, president and chief executive officer of Cook Inlet Housing Authority, which provides affordable housing to southcentral Alaska residents, is the vice chair.

For more on the Census Advisory Committees, go to <//www.census.gov/cac/>.