Director and Senior Advisor of Race and Ethnic Research and Outreach, Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau

Nicholas Jones is the director and senior advisor of race and ethnic research and outreach in the Census Bureau’s Population Division.

Nicholas began his career at the Census Bureau in 2000 as an analyst in the Racial Statistics Branch. His research helped shed light on race reporting patterns and the demographic characteristics of children in interracial families. As an analyst, Nicholas authored numerous reports and presentations, and became a renowned expert on the multiracial population and the racial and ethnic diversity of the United States.

Nicholas served as chief of the Census Bureau’s Racial Statistics Branch from 2007 to 2014, where he led a research team in the analysis of 2010 Census and American Community Survey race and ethnicity data. He guided the development of 2010 Census race and ethnicity research briefs, presentations and press conferences, and was also a key leader of the Census Bureau’s extensive research to explore alternative approaches for collecting data on race and ethnicity with the 2010 Census Race and Hispanic Origin Alternative Questionnaire Experiment. He provided important insights for the design and development of the experimental questionnaires, reinterview study and focus group project, as well as overall research and analysis.

Nicholas was recently promoted to be the director and senior advisor of race and ethnic research and outreach, and in this role, he leads the Census Bureau’s extensive research and outreach to explore and discuss alternative approaches for improving data on race and ethnicity in preparation for the 2020 Census.

Nicholas has presented his work at numerous academic conferences and professional meetings, and discussed race and ethnicity trends with a wide variety of media outlets. He was honored by American Demographics magazine as one of the top young demographers for his research on the multiracial population. Nicholas also earned two Department of Commerce Bronze Medal Awards for the review and analysis of race data from the 2000 and 2010 Censuses. Nicholas received a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in sociology and anthropology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.