President Barack Obama nominated Robert M. Groves for director of the U.S. Census Bureau on April 2, 2009, and the Senate confirmed him on July 13, 2009. He began his tenure as director on July 15, 2009.
At the time of his nomination, Groves was a professor at the University of Michigan and director of its Survey Research Center, as well as research professor at the Joint Program in Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland.
He was the Census Bureau’s Associate Director for Statistical Design, Methodology and Standards from 1990 to 1992, on loan from the University of Michigan.
Groves has authored or co-authored seven books and scores of scientific articles. His 1989 book, Survey Errors and Survey Costs, was named one of the 50 most influential books in survey research by the American Association of Public Opinion Research. His book, Nonresponse in Household Interview Surveys, with Mick Couper, written during his time at the Census Bureau, received the 2008 AAPOR Book Award.
Groves is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Statistical Association, and the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research. He is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute and a National Associate of the National Research Council, US National Academy of Sciences.
He is the recipient of the Innovator Award and the distinguished achievement award of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, the O’Neill Award of the New York Association for Public Opinion Research, the Helen Dinerman Award of the World Association for Public Opinion Research, and Julius Shiskin Memorial Award of the National Association of Business Economics and the American Statistical Association, in recognition of contributions in the development of economic statistics.
Groves has a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and master’s degrees in statistics and sociology from the University of Michigan. He also earned his doctorate at Michigan.
He and his wife, Cynthia, have two sons − Christopher a recent graduate of Purdue University and Andrew, currently a student at Northwestern University.
PLENARY SPEAKER
Dr. Timothy W. Kelsey, Penn State University
Dr. Kelsey is a professor and State Program Leader, Economic and Community Development, with Penn State Cooperative Extension. His work focuses on issues such as economic and community implications of Marcellus Shale, public finance and taxation, and land use planning as it relates to rural development, and is used by local government officials and citizens interested in community issues.
SPEAKERS
Christopher Briem, University of Pittsburgh
Christopher Briem is a regional economist at the University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR). His work at the center’s Program in Urban and Regional Analysis focuses on regional economic and demographic forecasting and simulation, industry analysis and competitiveness research. Ongoing projects include economic forecasts for Allegheny County and the Pittsburgh region, analysis of migration trends in the Pittsburgh region, analysis of local government finances and fragmentation and the impact of demographic changes on the regional economy. His undergraduate degree from Princeton University, and he hold a Masters degree in Public Policy and Administration from the School of Public and International Affairs at Columbia University in New York in addition to doctoral studies in Economics at the University of Pittsburgh.
Whittona Burrell, U.S. Census Bureau
Whittona Burrell has 40+ years of professional work experience and community service. For the past 26 years she has worked in a variety of positions with the U.S. Census Bureau. She started her government employ in the Philadelphia Region, before serving a detail-assignment at Census Headquarters and later transferred to work in the Kansas City Region during the 1990s and at end of the 2000 Census returned to the Philadelphia office.
Ms. Burrell holds a BA in Management and an MS in Counseling & Human Services Psychology. She has received many awards and recognition of her individual and professional work. Since returning to the Philadelphia Region, this Delaware resident, enjoys working in her community, her church, serving a 2nd term appointment as a DE State Human Relations Commissioner, and spending time with her family.
Robert Gradeck, University of Pittsburgh
Bob Gradeck currently works at the University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for Urban and Social Research, where he manages the Pittsburgh Neighborhood and Community Information System (PNCIS), a project he helped to found. The PNCIS serves the Pittsburgh region through the collection, maintenance, and analysis of neighborhood and property-based data. The PNCIS is a member of the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, a partnership of community information systems managed by the Urban Institute. Bob has 16+ years of experience in community and neighborhood development, including advanced applications of local informatio
n. Bob received a degree in Urban Studies from the University of Pittsburgh in 1993, and a Masters of City Planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1995.
Kathy R. Hale, State Library of Pennsylvania
Kathy Hale is the Supervisor for Outreach Services and the Regional Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) Advisor for the State Library of Pennsylvania. She had worked for the State Library for nine years. Ms. Hale has been part of many projects in her tenure at the State Library including government publications coordinator, digitization project manager, and reference librarian both real and virtual.
Kathy attained her M.L.S. from Clarion University in 1994. She worked in two different engineering firms in Pennsylvania and as a reference librarian in a public library in Middletown, PA before becoming Collection Management Librarian at the State Library of Pennsylvania. She attained her present position six years ago as Regional Librarian of the Federal Depository Library Program to work with the over 56 Federal and 54 Pennsylvania Depositories located throughout the Commonwealth.
Jonathan Johnson is a senior policy analyst with nearly 21 years experience in analyzing and evaluating rural policies and programs for the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, a legislative agency of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Accomplishments include:
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Developed and maintained the state's first rural database on socio-economic and demographic factors
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Organized workshops on rural community development issues (farmers' market, tourism, economic development, etc.)
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Coordinated statewide policy forums on rural development issues
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Evaluated statewide economic development programs for impact on rural areas
Cathy McCully, U.S. Census Bureau
Cathy McCully is Chief of the Census Redistricting Data Office. Her office is responsible for coordinating the dissemination of the PL 94-171 Redistricting Data Files to the legislative leadership and the executive offices in each state no later than one year after Census Day, or April 1, 2011. To meet this mandate she meets regularly with state and local officials in order to ensure they are ready for the Census and the numerous data products that the Bureau offers. She also is responsible for meeting the requirements of Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act by providing the determinations in a timely fashion as required by law. Ms. McCully is the recipient of two Bronze Medal awards and has been recognized by the National Conference of State Legislatures for her dedicated public service.
Tim McElhinny, CWIA - PA Department of Labor and Industry
Mr. McElhinny started his career with the Center for Workforce Information & Analysis as a statistician in 1999. Tim has worked in the following subject areas at the Center: Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Industry and Business Analysis, Industry Projections, Customer Service, Research, Website Development, and Outreach. In 2010, Tim assumed the role of manager of the newly formed Economic Research and Customer Service section within CWIA. This group focuses on responding to all customer requests, conducting advanced economic studies, developing new labor market information products, and coordinating outreach efforts. The section is responsible for producing Fast Facts, Help Wanted Online and Job Spidering data, Marcellus Shale Reports, New Hires by Workforce Investment Areas, and our newest product – the Local Employment Dynamics database.
Jeremy Melissari, U.S. Census Bureau
Jeremy came to the Requirement and Stakeholder Relations Team in the DADS program in July 2009 after several years in the private sector. Over the past two years, Jeremy has assisted in developing the training curriculum and testing for the new American FactFinder. Jeremy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Ramapo College of NJ and a Masters of Arts in Applied Political Science from American University. He lives in North Bethesda, MD with his wife.
Louisa Miller is a demographer at the U.S. Census Bureau. She currently holds the position of assistant division chief for census programs in the Population Division. Her responsibilities include the design of the content and the mix of 2010 Census products, the subject-matter content of the census form, data editing, subject-matter data review, residence rules, and apportionment. Prior to holding this position, Miller was the senior survey adviser in the Population Division, working primarily on the Current Population Survey and the Survey of Income and Program Participation. She also has held positions in the Marriage and Family Branch and the State and National Estimates Branch and has authored numerous reports and papers in those positions.
Sandy Moore, KIDS COUNT Director
Sandy started working at PA Partnerships for Children over 4 years ago after working for the Commonwealth for 29 years (most with the Department of Public Welfare). For many of those years, she has been an affiliate to the Pennsylvania State Data Center. The theme running through her career has consistently been data validity and data integrity as she strives to present data that are useful and meaningful.
Michael Ratcliffe, U.S. Census Bureau
Michael Ratcliffe is Assistant Division Chief for Geocartographic Products and Criteria, Geography Division, U.S. Census Bureau. He is responsible for programs related to the development of geographic area concepts and criteria, cartographic products, TIGER/Line shapefiles, and other geographic information products. In his tenure at the Census Bureau he has worked in both the Geography and Population Divisions, with a primary focus on geographic area concepts and criteria. Mr. Ratcliffe holds degrees in geography from the University of Maryland and the University of Oxford.
Brigitte Wehrs, U.S. Census Bureau
Brigitte Wehrs is the Chief of the Outreach and Education Branch in the Governments Division of the U.S. Census Bureau in Washington, DC. The branch is tasked with expanding user knowledge and increasing awareness of governments’ statistics and products, such as the 2012 Census of Governments and annual and quarterly surveys on taxes, pensions, and state and local government finance. Prior to working in the Governments Division, Brigitte spent several years in the Foreign Trade Division at the Census Bureau working in various branches, including Regulations, Outreach and Education.
Lee Wentela, U.S. Census Bureau
Lee Wentela has been with the Census Bureau as a statistician and program manager for twenty-two years. For the last nine years, he has directed the conduct of the Survey of Business Owners. He oversees the staff responsible for coordinating all phases of the program including data collection, analysis, tabulation, and publication. He also manages several other statistical programs including the Economic Census of the Island Areas and the Statistics of U.S. Businesses. Lee has a B.S. in Mathematical Statistics from Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan.