Margaret E. Martin

Margaret E. Martin (May 6, 1912 – May 16, 2012) was an economist and statistician at the U.S. Bureau of the Budget from 1942 to 1973. She was influential in the development of U.S. economic statistics and became president of the American Statistical Association.

Early life Margaret Elizabeth Martin was the first child born to Harry Martin, a teacher, and Frances Martin in New York in 1912. Her younger siblings were Jane, Eleanor and Robert. As an elementary student, her teachers included noted economist Clara Eliot.

Career Martin worked for the Division of Statistical Standards of the Bureau of the Budget beginning in 1942. The Current Population Survey, which has been the primary source of labor statistics within the country, was developed by Martin and others. The survey is produced by the United States Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics now.

Recognition She was elected a Fellow of the American Statistical Association in 1961 and became president in 1980.

Death Martin died May 16, 2012, of pneumonia and congestive heart failure at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. One of her sisters was alive at the time of her death.