Julius Shiskin Award for Economic Statistics

Nominations are invited for the annual Julius Shiskin Memorial Award for Economic Statistics. The Award is given in recognition of unusually original and important contributions in the development of economic statistics or in the use of statistics in interpreting the economy. Contributions are recognized for statistical research, development of statistical tools, application of information technology techniques, use of economic statistical programs, management of statistical programs, or developing public understanding of measurement issues. The Award was established in 1980 by the Washington Statistical Society (WSS) and is now cosponsored by the WSS, the National Association for Business Economics, and the Business and Economics Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association.

William R. Bell, a Senior Mathematical Statistician at the U.S. Census Bureau, and Robert M. Groves, Director of the Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, were selected as the recipients of the 2008 Julius Shiskin Memorial Award for Economic Statistics. Dr. Bell was recognized for innovative statistical research that led to improved economic statistics through important contributions to the theory and practice of seasonal adjustment, small area estimation, and time series modeling; Dr. Groves was recognized for innovative statistical research that led to improved economic statistics through important contributions to the theory and practice of survey methods for the conduct of sample surveys of both households and establishments.

For more details, access the press release (PDF) on this website.

Because the program was initiated many years ago, it is little wonder that statisticians and economists often ask, "Who was Julius Shiskin?" At the time of his death in 1978, "Julie" was the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and earlier served as the Chief Statistician at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Chief Economic Statistician and Assistant Director of the Census Bureau. Throughout his career, he was known as an innovator. At Census he was instrumental in developing an electronic computer method for seasonal adjustment. In 1961, he published Signals of Recession and Recovery, which laid the groundwork for the calculation of monthly economic indicators, and he developed the monthly Census report Business Conditions Digest to disseminate them to the public. In 1969, he was appointed Chief Statistician at the Office of Management and Budget where he developed the policies and procedures that govern the release of key economic indicators (Statistical Policy Directive Number 3), and originated a Social Indicators report. In 1973, he was selected to head BLS where he was instrumental in preserving the integrity and independence of the BLS labor force data and directed the most comprehensive revision in the history of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which included a new CPI for all urban consumers.

Past Recipients

Past recipients in recent years include:

• Arthur B. Kennickell, Senior Economist and Head of the Microeconomic Surveys Unit at the Federal Reserve Board, for his leadership of the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances and his achievements as an international expert on the design and implementation of household economic surveys.
• J. Steven (Steve) Landefeld, Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce, for his leadership in strengthening the BEA economic accounts, enhancing the international reputation of BEA, and outstanding staff development.
• W. Erwin Diewert, Professor of Economics at the University of British Columbia, for path-breaking economic theoretical innovations, notably in index number theory, adapted to improve national economic statistics around the world.
• Agustín Maravall, Chief Economist, Research Department, Bank of Spain, for outstanding leadership and contributions to methods, software, training, and consultation for model-based seasonal adjustment.
• Susan E. Offutt for exceptional leadership in economic information and policy analysis on many food, farm, natural resource, and rural development issues.
• Carol A. Corrado for leadership in measuring industrial production and capacity, productivity and information-technology output and prices.
• Katharine Abraham of the Joint Program in Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland for her many methodological improvements in U.S. price and employment statistics.
• George C. Tiao for his contributions to the methodological foundations of a successful model-based approach to seasonal adjustment.

A complete list of past winners of the Shiskin Award is also available.