CHICAGO, January 2022 – Robert Santos, former vice president of Statistics and Methodology at NORC, has been sworn in as director of the U.S. Census Bureau. Widely recognized as one of the country’s leading statisticians, Santos, who is Latino, is the first person of color to become a permanent director of the bureau. Santos will lead the bureau through the end of 2026, which will include guiding the bureau in its crucial preparation for the 2030 census.

Santos began his work at NORC in 1996 and served as VP until 1998. Most recently he was chief methodologist at the Urban Institute and president of the American Statistical Association. During his more than 40-year career, he has also worked at the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center and was a partner at NuStats in Austin, Texas.

The census generates the country’s most comprehensive public data on race, ethnicity, and other demographic characteristics used to redraw voting maps, guide federal funding, and enforce civil rights protections. It is the most frequently cited source of information in the social sciences.

“I understand the importance of data quality and the Census Bureau’s role in providing data that nurtures our democracy, informs our people, and promotes our great economy,” Santos told the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs during a confirmation hearing after the Biden administration announced his nomination.

His expertise spans quantitative and qualitative research design, sampling, survey operations, and statistical analysis, and his specialty areas include undocumented immigrants and other disadvantaged populations. Santos has worked across a wide range of policy areas including education, health, immigration and refugees, environmental issues, housing discrimination, travel behavior, and elections.