Margaret E. Martin, 1912-2012

Today's Washington Post obituaries listed Margaret E. Martin, statistician.  Curious about  the occupation, I read the obituary and discovered a highly accomplishe, well-respected woman who lived 100 years.

Dr. Martin came to Washington in 1942 to work for the Bureau of the Budget’s Division of Statistical Standards. She helped develop the Current Population Survey, which is now produced by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and remains the federal government’s primary source of labor statistics.

In 1961 and 1962, she was assigned to a presidential committee analyzing the nation’s employment statistics.

From 1967 to 1973, Dr. Martin was assistant chief of the Statistical Policy Division of the Bureau of the Budget, which later became the Office of Management and Budget

In 1973, she became executive director of the Committee on National Statistics at the National Academy of Sciences. She continued to work part time for the committee for several years after her retirement in 1978.

Few enought can achieve that level of success at any time, but for a woman of Dr. Martin's generation to do so attests to her ability and determination and, no doubt, professional rigor.

Godspeed, Dr. Martin.