It's challenging to describe succinctly the contributions of a figure as legendary in the statistical community as Janet Norwood. Suffice it to say that as Janet made the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) her professional home, she helped shape it's future and exerted influence far beyond its walls.
But of course, there's much more to say. Janet's nearly 30-year career at BLS was capped by serving for 13 years as the first female BLS Commissioner. This came after she “grew up” at BLS: starting in 1963 and then spending a decade working in the international and consumer price programs. She rose rapidly through the ranks and was named Associate Deputy Commissioner for Data Analysis in 1972, Deputy Commissioner for Data Analysis in 1973, and Deputy Commissioner in 1975.
In 1979, President Carter nominated Janet to be the 10th Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. She was reappointed twice by President Reagan. Her tenure spanned three Presidential administrations and spanned both sides of the aisle, earning her a reputation for impartiality, integrity, and professionalism. During her tenure, BLS launched the annual Consumer Expenditure Survey, published the first multifactor productivity indexes for major sectors of the private economy, and took over production of the National Longitudinal Surveys.
Janet modernized BLS and made it a model workplace, and not just within the federal system. She was an advocate, ambassador, and head cheerleader for BLS employees, elevating the role of statisticians in BLS to improve the statistical quality of our indicators. And she built a stronger bridge between BLS and the academic research community. It was Janet's idea to establish a cognitive laboratory at BLS and to cross-pollinate with efforts at similar facilities at the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics. This laboratory, now located in the BLS' Office of Survey Methods Research, is an important part of her legacy.
Both during her career at BLS and in ‘‘retirement,’’ Janet was active on many boards, committees, and research organizations, where she worked on studies and authored reports related to improving economic statistics. In 1995, she published Organizing to Count, which looked at issues associated with the decentralized statistical system in the United States and offered alternatives. The book is a roadmap to understanding today's statistical system, addressing many of the same issues—limited budgets, challenges to independence, consistency across agencies—that we still confront today.
And let's not forget her role as a key spokesperson for and defender of federal statistics. During her 13-year tenure as Commissioner, she testified before Congress 137 times! She liked to refer to those sessions as “fencing matches.” As far as labor statisticians or BLS Commissioners go, she is the gold standard. Those of us who came after her quickly realize that we will be known by many as “that person who has Janet Norwood's job.”
More than 30 years ago, the Washington Post described her this way: “Objective, methodical, unflappable under sometimes hostile congressional questioning, Norwood measures our prosperity and tells the man on the street whether the next line he stands in is likely to be at the bank-teller window or the unemployment office.” When she stepped down in 1991, the New York Times noted her “near-legendary reputation for nonpartisanship.”
Janet Norwood passed away in 2015 at age 91. Among the many tributes in her memory, she was inducted into the Department of Labor's Hall of Honor (on World Statistics Day), along with the first Commissioner of BLS, Carroll Wright. Several speakers participated in the event to honor Janet, including another trailblazing woman, the Honorable Janet Yellen, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. A series of memorial articles was published in the Statistical Journal of the International Association of Official Statistics in 2015. And, as a permanent memorial to her for BLS staff, last year I officially renamed the BLS Conference Center as the Janet L. Norwood Conference and Training Center. Janet was also honored with a memorial session at the 2016 Joint Statistical Meetings.
Janet Norwood gave the accompanying lecture in April 2000 as part of the American Statistical Association Project for the Filming of Distinguished Statisticians. In the lecture, she recounts events that challenged the independence of the U.S. statistical system. We learn of the advent of activities to protect that independence, such as publication of data release dates and restrictions on political policy officials commenting on the data until one hour after release. These protections, and the fierce dedication to an independent statistical system by Janet Norwood and many others, are cornerstones of today's U.S. statistical system and its reputation as the premier source of gold standard data.