Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award

Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award

The Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award recognizes and encourages the mentoring of junior staff in the statistical community in federal, state, or local government. It is awarded annually to a supervisor, technical director, team coordinator, or other statistical staff member who is nominated by a supervisor or co-workers for his or her efforts in supporting the work and developing the careers of junior staff.

The Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award was established to honor Dr. Griffith, who died in August 2001, after working for more than 25 years in the federal statistical system. Throughout her career, and especially in her latter 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 younger staff at all levels to learn, to grow, and to recognize and seize career opportunities as they came along.

The award recipient will be selected for his or her efforts in supporting the work and developing the careers of junior staff. Preference will be given to individuals with a track record of mentoring government statisticians. Examples of typical mentoring activities include:

• 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 the growth and career development of junior staff through attendance and oral presentations at meetings with higher level officials, staff of other agencies, professional associations, training courses, and conferences;
• Motivating junior staff and building self-confidence by providing feedback, 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 regardless of rank, race, ethnicity, gender identity, or seniority.

The Guidelines and Nomination Form are distributed by the Government Statistics Section and the Social Statistics Section. Nominations should be accompanied by at least two but not more than six supporting letters. These letters should be attached to, and submitted with, the nomination.

NOMINATIONS ARE DUE BY May 15, 2024. The Award Committee will determine the award winner in May. The award will consist of a $1,000 honorarium, a citation, and a plaque, which will be presented at a ceremony arranged by the co-sponsors.

The nomination package must be mailed or emailed no later than May 15, 2024 to:

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

If you have questions about the award, please contact Rick Peterson at rick@amstat.org or (703) 684-1221, or the chair of the Award Committee:  Raji Sundaram at sundaramr2@mail.nih.gov. 

Previous recipients of the Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award

2003 - Richard D. Allen (National Agricultural Statistics Service)
2004 - Beth A Kilss (Internal Revenue Service)
2005 - Renee Miller (Energy Information Administration)
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)
2010 - Deborah H. Griffin (U.S. Census Bureau)
2011 - Jenise L. Swall (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
2012 - William P. Mockovak (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
2013 - Brian Harris-Kojetin (Office of Management and Budget)
2014 - J. Gregory Robinson (U.S. Census Bureau) and Kenneth C. Schoendorf (National Center for Health Statistics)
2015 - Aldo "Skip" Vecchia (U.S. Geological Survey)
2016 - Diane K. Willimack (U.S. Census Bureau)
2017 - Cynthia Ogden (National Center for Health Statistics)
2018 - Howard Hogan (U.S. Census Bureau)
2018 - Carol Gotway Crawford (U.S. Government Accountability Office)
2019 - Sharon Boivin (National Center for Education Statistics)
2020 - Rajeshwari Sundaram (National Institutes of Health)
2021 - Carol Caldwell (U.S. Census Bureau)
2022 - Monserrat Garcia-Closas & Barry Graubard (National Cancer Institute)