A noted professor, data expert and leader in data science is now the associate director of Research and Methodology and chief scientist for the U.S. Census Bureau, the agency announced recently.
Sallie Keller, division director and distinguished professor in biocomplexity at the Biocomplexity Institute at the University of Virginia (UVA), took over the role Oct. 17, the USCB announced at the time. Keller replaces John Abowd, who served in the position since 2016, the USCB reports. The Research and Methodology Directorate oversees the modernization of USCB's services, according to the announcement.
"Dr. Keller's areas of expertise are social and decision informatics, statistical underpinnings of data science, and data access and confidentiality," USCB states in the announcement. "She is a leading voice in creating the science of all data and advancing this research across disciplines to benefit society."
Keller joined the USCB as a special advisor on July 1 through an interagency personnel agreement (IPA), the agency reports. As well as her Biocomplexity Institute role, she holds appointments in UVA’s School of Data Science, School of Medicine’s Public Health Sciences Department, School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Engineering Systems and Environment Department.
She is also an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering; has served as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Board on Mathematical Sciences and Their Applications and the Committee on National Statistics; has chaired the Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics; is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; an elected member of the International Statistics Institute; and fellow and past president of the American Statistical Association, according to the announcement.
“I look forward to working with researchers and leadership throughout the Census Bureau to help drive continued innovation and mentor Census Bureau staff who are international leaders in their fields of expertise,” Keller said in the announcement.
Abowd, whose association with the USCB began in 1998, is serving as executive senior advisor until major projects started under his tenure are completed, the USCB reports.
“Recent times have shown we need more agility and capability for capturing and integrating data of all kinds, at scale, to bring forward data insights about some of society’s most perplexing issues," Keller said in the statement. "The Census Bureau has begun its next phase of modernization through enterprise initiatives to help meet this need and I look forward to supporting and influencing this transformation.”
