OCT. 7, 2021 — Today the U.S. Census Bureau announced Acting Director Ron Jarmin is the recipient of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) 2021 Warren E. Miller Award for Meritorious Service to the Social Sciences. Ron Jarmin is the acting director, deputy director and chief operating officer of the U.S. Census Bureau.  

Joining ICPSR Director Margaret Levenstein in presenting Jarmin’s award was Matthew D. Shapiro, director and research professor at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research's (ISR) Survey Research Center, and the Lawrence R. Klein collegiate professor of economics.

“It is fitting that Ron Jarmin receives the award named for the esteemed ISR founder Warren Miller, whose work created the National Election Survey, which provides the empirical basis for what we understand about the workings of U.S. democracy. The decennial census, of course, is the foundation of how we represent and how we vote in the United States. Ron led us through twin challenges of the attempts of the politicization of the census, and the COVID crisis,” Shapiro said. “Under tremendous pressure, Ron and his colleagues maintained the integrity of the count.”

Jarmin performed the nonexclusive functions and duties of the director from July 2017 to January 2019, and previously served as the associate director for economic programs. He led the team for the 2017 Economic Census, overseeing a move to 100 percent internet data collection and leveraging enterprise investments to minimize system, application and dissemination costs. Data products from the economic census provide the foundation for key measures of economic performance, including the nation’s gross domestic product.

From 2011 to 2016, Jarmin served as the assistant director for research and methodology. He oversaw a broad research program in statistics, survey methodology and economics aimed at improving economic and social measurement within the federal statistical system. Since beginning his career at the Census Bureau in 1992, he has also served as the chief economist, chief of the Center for Economic Studies, and a research economist.

Ron Jarmin holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Oregon. An elected fellow of the American Statistical Association, he has published papers in the areas of industrial organization, business dynamics, entrepreneurship, technology and firm performance, urban economics, data access, and statistical disclosure avoidance.

The Warren E. Miller Award for Meritorious Service to the Social Sciences was initiated in 1993 to recognize individuals who have had a profound impact on social science research and infrastructure. The award is named for Warren E. Miller, a founder of ICPSR and its first executive director, who demonstrated throughout his career exemplary service to the social science community and a talent for building institutions that have survived beyond his direct involvement and continue to prosper.

ICPSR is an international consortium of more than 750 academic institutions and research organizations that provide leadership and training in data access, curation and methods of analysis for the social science research community. ICPSR collaborates with a number of funders, including U.S. statistical agencies and foundations, to create thematic data collections and data stewardship and research projects.

No news release associated with this announcement. Tip sheet only.

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