John Thompson, 2011 Section Chair

It is a great honor to step into the role of chair of the Social Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association. I have been both a producer and consumer of social statistics for most of my career, and I believe Social Statistics was one of the first sections I joined more than 30 years ago. I hope to carry on the good work of Sharon Stern and Alan Schirm, the two chairs in 2010 and 2009, respectively. I also welcome Joe Salvo as the 2011 chair-elect. I will be fortunate to be able to work with both Stern and Schirm in 2011, as well as the rest of the great group of section officers.

It’s an exciting time to be working in statistics, and there are a lot of great opportunities, as well as some challenges. It’s also fascinating to see how the environment in which we do our work is evolving, particularly from the point of view of someone who started out in 1975 at the U.S. Census Bureau. My goal is to reflect this excitement as your chair and to represent the issues and concerns of the Social Statistics Section membership. I welcome any suggestions or thoughts on topics you would like to see the section address. I am most easily reached through email at Thompson-John@norc.org.

Finally, the 2011 Joint Statistical Meetings will take place July 30 – August 4 this summer in Miami Beach, Florida. The theme is “Statistics: An All Encompassing Discipline.” Nancy Clusen, our program chair for the meetings, is working hard to put together an outstanding schedule of presentations. This should be a great conference, as well as an opportunity to catch up with colleagues and advance our understanding of our science. I’m looking forward to seeing many of you there, if not sooner.