Statisticians to honor census scientist John Abowd

John Abowd
Abowd

John Abowd, the Edmund Ezra Day Professor of Economics, director of graduate studies for the Department of Economics and a professor of information science and statistics, will be recognized in August by statisticians from around the world for developing innovative approaches to solve statistical problems in federal data collection.

Abowd will receive the Roger Herriot Award from the American Statistical Association's government and social statistics sections and the Washington Statistical Society.

Abowd’s nomination was based on his work with the U.S. Census Bureau's Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Program. The program produces statistical data on labor markets including employment, job creations and losses, hiring, separations and earnings, and provides detailed time series data on the demographic characteristics of local labor markets.

The data are released quarterly as the Quarterly Workforce Indicators and annually as OnTheMap, a tool to study work-related commuting patterns. The data, created entirely by integrating existing data sources, are available to the public.

Abowd provides scientific leadership for the program, which produces research and public-use data integrating censuses, demographic surveys, economic surveys and administrative data.

Director of the ILR School’s Labor Dynamics Institute, Abowd has taught and researched at Cornell since 1987. His current research focuses on the creation, dissemination, privacy protection and use of linked, longitudinal data on employees and employers.

Mary Catt is assistant director of communications for the ILR School.

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