Albert Ross Eckler (May 22, 1901 – March 14, 1991) served as Deputy Director of the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

from 1949 to 1965, and its

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

from 1965 until 1969. He was the first career employee ever to become director of the agency.

Career

Eckler was born in

Van Hornesville, New York Van Hornesville is a hamlet in the town of Stark, north of Springfield Center, on NY 80 in Herkimer County Herkimer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,139. Its county seat is ...

in 1901 and lived on a farm until he attended

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

. He then earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

and a PhD at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1934. Eckler joined the Census Bureau in 1939 as chief of economic statistics in the Population Division. He then became assistant chief of the Population Division and then the Special Surveys Division and chief social scientist. In 1949, he became Deputy Director and in 1965 President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

appointed him director. He worked as director until 1969 and later died in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in 1991. He authored ''The Bureau of the Census'' (), and was

president of the American Statistical Association The president of the American Statistical Association is the head of the American Statistical Association (ASA). According to the association's bylaws, the president is an officer, and a member of the board of directors and of the executive commit ...

. He is also the father of logologist and

centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100 years. Because life expectancies worldwide are below 100 years, the term is invariably associated with longevity. In 2012, the United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centen ...

researcher

A. Ross Eckler, Jr. Albert Ross Eckler Jr. (August 29, 1927 – December 9, 2016) was an American logologist, statistician, and author, the son of statistician A. Ross Eckler. He served in the US Army from 1946 – 1947. He received a BA from Swarthmore College wit ...

References

External links

US Census Bureau oral history program interviewVideo that cites a paper by Eckler on Jotto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eckler, A. Ross 1901 births 1991 deaths American statisticians Presidents of the American Statistical Association Fellows of the American Statistical Association United States Census Bureau people Harvard University alumni 20th-century American mathematicians Hamilton College (New York) alumni Mathematicians from New York (state) Lyndon B. Johnson administration personnel