Rice sociologist named U.S. Census director

Rice sociologist named U.S. Census director

BY FRANZ BROTZEN
Rice News Staff

Rice University sociologist Steve Murdock has been named to head the U.S. Census Bureau as it prepares for the 2010 national count.

STEVE MURDOCK

On a voice vote Wednesday, the Senate confirmed Murdock, who is also the state demographer of Texas, as the new census director. Murdock was nominated by President George W. Bush in June.

Murdock, the Allyn R. and Gladys M. Cline Professor in Sociology, joined the Rice faculty in August. Previously, he served as director of the Institute for Demographic and Socioeconomic Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He earned a doctorate in demography and sociology from the University of Kentucky.

Murdock is the author of 12 books and more than 150 articles and technical reports on the implications of current and future demographic and socioeconomic change. Among his publications is “The New Texas Challenge: Population Change and the Future of Texas.”

“I am honored that the president nominated me and that the Senate confirmed me,” Murdock said, “I am looking forward to accepting these responsibilities.”

According to its Web site, the Census Bureau “serves as the leading source of quality data about the nation’s people and economy.”

Murdock will replace Louis Kincannon as head of the agency responsible for counting the nation’s population every 10 years. The count, which is required by the Constitution, is used to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the states and to allocate billions of dollars in federal aid each year.

Kincannon resigned 13 months ago, saying he felt that he had lost the confidence of the Commerce Department, which oversees the bureau. Kincannon agreed to stay on the job until his successor was confirmed.

Murdock will be on leave from Rice while he lives in Washington to serve as Census Bureau director.