President Biden intends to nominate Robert Santos as the next director of the U.S. Census Bureau, the White House announced Tuesday.
The nomination requires Senate confirmation. If confirmed, Santos will be the first person of color to lead the tech-heavy agency.
Santos is currently vice president and chief methodologist at the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.- based think tank. He brings with him over 40 years of experience and expertise in social science and policy research, as well as survey sampling and design.
His expertise would serve him well at the Census Bureau, which is looking to start using cloud services to design and deploy surveys. The department is also looking to address data challenges the Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified with a view to the 2030 census.
Santos is also president of the American Statistical Association and has been given the organization’s highest recognition for service and leadership. His career has also included stops at the University of Michigan and Temple University as the director of survey operations and senior study director, respectively.
