NCHS selects Nat Schenker as its new Deputy Director

Dr. Nathaniel Schenker, associate director of the Office of Research and Methodology (ORM) for the National Center for Health Statistics, has been appointed NCHS Deputy Director.

Center Director Charles Rothwell praised the appointment, noting that Dr. Schenker “has been instrumental in developing more collaborative statistical relationships within NCHS and with other federal statistical agencies. Nat is highly thought of throughout the statistical community.”

Dr. Schenker joined NCHS in 1999 from UCLA, where he was a tenured faculty member with appointments in the departments of Biostatistics and Biomathematics. In 2010, he was appointed associate director of ORM, which is responsible for the Center’s research and development in support of its complex data collections, including work on sample design, questionnaire development and testing, analytic techniques, and dissemination. NCHS honored Dr. Schenker with the prestigious Elijah White Outstanding Scientist Award in 2010.

In addition to his role at NCHS, Dr. Schenker serves as president of the American Statistical Association (ASA). He has served three terms on the ASA Board of Directors and was previously a vice president. The association elected him a Fellow in 1995, and honored him with the Roger Herriot Award for Innovation in Federal Statistics in 2006 and the Founders Award for distinguished service in 2011.

Dr. Schenker received his A.B. from Princeton and his S.M. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, all in statistics. Earlier in his career, he served on the staff of the Statistical Research Division at the U.S. Census Bureau. He is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute and the Delta Omega honorary public health society. Dr. Schenker is also an adjunct professor, Joint Program in Survey Methodology, University of Maryland.