STATISTICIANS IN HISTORY
Nancy M. Gordon:
Informing Decisions
Val Snider, ASA Publications
Coordinator
N
ancy Gordon’s career has
focused on providing
unbiased and reliable
information for decisionmaking.
Just the Facts
Early on, when she worked in
academia and at nonprofit orga-
Education
nizations and the Congressional
BA in economics and statistics
Budget Office, her focus was
from the university of California at
policy-relevant analyses related to
Berkeley
employment; federal tax provi-
sions; and programs such as
PhD in economics from
Stanford university
Social Security, Medicare, and
those providing financial assis-
Previous Work
tance for post-secondary educa-
Congressional Budget Office,
tion. At the U.S. Census Bureau,
Assistant Director for Health
which she joined in 1995, data and Human Resources/Senior
collection and dissemination have Economist, 1980–1995
been her primary responsibilities.
White House, Senior Advisor to
the Assistant to the President and
The Early Years
Executive Director, Presidential Task
Until July 2005, Gordon was the
Force on Women, 1979–1980
associate director for demograph-
The urban Institute, Senior
ic programs, providing executive
Research Associate, 1976–1979
leadership for all the bureau’s
Carnegie-Mellon university,
household surveys. With an
Assistant Professor, Graduate
annual budget of $300 million
School of Industrial
and more than 800 employees,
Administration, 1970–1974
“
she led the production of data
The technical challenges and
that today drives the allocation of
Honors and Professional
more than $400 billion in federal
Affiliations
statistical issues we are facing funds each year.
Fellow, American
She also led the bureau’s
Statistical Association
are real and interesting
”
.
efforts to create the American
Elected Member, International
Community Survey (ACS) and
Statistical Institute
the Local Employment Dynamics Member, various committees of the
(LED) Partnership. “I still meet American Statistical Association
for lunch with the four division
President, officer, and member,
chiefs—whose contributions
Worldwide Assurance for
were essential to achieving our Employees of Public Agencies
successes during that period— Board of Directors, 1982–1990
and talk about the immensity of
Chair and member, Committee
that work,” said Gordon. “That
on the Status of Women in the
was not generally a decade of Economics Profession, American
expanding statistical programs, Economic Association, 1985–1991
SEPTEMbER 2009 AMSTAT NEwS 11
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