On receiving the Roger Herriot Award in June 2001, Jeanne Griffith said: "One of the most rewarding aspects (of Federal statistics) for me was the opportunity to promote creative activities and energies among my staff."

Dr. Griffith died in August 2001 after working for more than 25 years in the Federal statistical system. Throughout her career, and especially in her senior management positions at the National Center for Education Statistics and the National Science Foundation, one of Jeanne's highest priorities was to mentor and encourage junior staff to learn, to grow, and to recognize and seize career opportunities as they came along.

The purpose of the award is to encourage the mentoring of younger staff in the Federal statistical system. This award is co-sponsored by the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy, the Council for Excellence in Government, the Washington Statistical Society, the Social Statistics and Government Statistics Sections of the American Statistical Association, and the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics. It is presented annually to a supervisor, technical director, team coordinator, or other member of the government statistical staff who is nominated by a supervisor and co-workers, and chosen by the Award Selection Committee. Nominations must be submitted no later than March 26, 2010.

Nominations for the 2010 award will be accepted beginning in January 2010. The last date for submission of nominations is March 26, 2010, and the Award Committee will make its determination of the award winner by May 7, 2010. The award will consist of a $1,000 honorarium (to be split if there is more than one awardee), a citation, and a plaque, which will be presented at a ceremony arranged by the co-sponsors in June 2010.

The winning mentor(s) will be selected for his or her efforts in supporting the work and developing the careers of junior staff. Such efforts would include the following types of activities:

• Advising junior staff to help them create career opportunities, networking skills, and contacts for growth and development;
• Counseling junior staff and providing resources to help develop their technical writing, analysis, presentation and organizational skills and knowledge;
• Encouraging junior staff growth and career development through attendance and oral presentations at meetings with higher level officials, staffs of other agencies, professional associations, training courses, and conferences;
• Motivating junior staff and building self confidence through feedback on their efforts, being a listener when that is needed, and creating a caring and supportive environment;
• Serving as a role model for junior staff through professional expertise, information and insights, balancing collegial and personal roles, and including everyone across rank, race, ethnicity, and seniority.

Past Award Recipients:

2003 - Richard D. Allen (National Agricultural Statistics Service)
2004 - Beth A Kilss (Internal Revenue Service)
2005 - Renee Miller (Energy Information Adminitration)
2006 - Martin O'Connell (U.S. Census Bureau)
2007 - Stephanie Shipp (National Institute for Standards and Technology)
2008 - Rosemary Marcuss (Bureau of Economic Analysis)
2009 - Kevin Cecco (Internal Revenue Service)
and Lillian Lin (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

If you have questions about the award, please contact Monica Clark at monica@amstat.org (703) 302-1860 and/or Beth Kilss at bakilss@msn.com (703) 451-7240. .

The nomination cover sheet and guidelines form - or a photocopy of it - should be attached to a nomination memorandum or letter. A nomination form can be obtained by downloading it in MS Word format or Adobe pdf format.

All nomination forms should be returned, by no later than March 26, 2010 to:

The Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award Committee
c/o The American Statistical Association
732 N. Washington St.
Alexandria, VA 22314-1943

monica@amstat.org