Charles Louis Kincannon (December 9, 1940 – December 15, 2012) was an American

statistician A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may wor ...

who served as the 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 the ...

from 2002 to 2008. Kincannon had joined the Census Bureau in 1963. Kincannon took the Director's office on March 13, 2002, after being nominated by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and confirmed unanimously by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. He served for six years until his retirement on January 3, 2008.Biography of Steve H. Murdock
/ref> Kincannon was born in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

, on December 12, 1940. He earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in 1963. He joined the United States Census Bureau in 1963 as a statistician. Kincannon worked at the Census Bureau for the majority of his federal career. His two exceptions were stints in the 1970s, when he joined the staff of the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

, and a tenure as the chief statistician of the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...

, based in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

during the 1990s. Kincannon became the Director of the United States Census Bureau in 2002. He is credited with expanding the

linguistic diversity Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

of the Bureau's staff during his six-year tenure. Kincannon purposely hired new census enumerators (or census takers) for the then-forthcoming

2010 U.S. census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. He argued that employees who were familiar with different languages and ethnicities would produce a more accurate census count. Kincannon expressed pride of serving as Director of the Census Bureau, noting that past directors included

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

, John Quincy Adams and Martin Van Buren, who had overseen the census as

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

. Kincannon died from cancer at Washington Hospital Center in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, on December 15, 2012, at the age of 72. Survivors included his wife of forty-four years, Lois Claire Green Kincannon, and his two daughters, Alexandra Kincannon and Indya Kincannon, then a

Knox County, Tennessee Knox County is located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 478,971, making it the third-most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Knoxville, which is the third-most populous city in Tennessee. K ...

, school board member, and current mayor of Knoxville,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

References

1940 births 2012 deaths Directors of the United States Census Bureau United States Census Bureau people OECD officials American statisticians University of Texas alumni Texas Republicans People from Waco, Texas George W. Bush administration personnel {{US-gov-bio-stub