It is hard to overstate the extent to which Katherine Wallman embodied and contributed to the US federal statistical system during her lengthy career in public service, culminating in 25 years as chief statistician of the United States. She often referred to the decentralized federal statistical system as the “federal statistical family.” She was its matriarch—listening, coaching, coaxing, schmoozing, and bringing people with different perspectives and strong views together for the public good. She was also a force in the international statistical community, serving as chair of the UN Statistical Commission and in other leadership positions.

Katherine grew up in New Jersey, the daughter of an elementary school teacher and a telephone company executive. Her first post-college job was in the telephone industry. She soon moved to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in Washington, DC, where she settled at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), working to strengthen ties between NCES and state education agencies. In 1978, she moved to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as deputy chief statistician. The statistical policy office was buffeted during the Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan administrations, and Katherine welcomed the offer from the newly formed Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (COPAFS) to become its first executive director in 1981.

Katherine returned to federal service in 1992 as chief statistician, retiring from that position in early 2017. Her accomplishments as chief statistician were legion and herculean, requiring every ounce of her boundless energy, steadfast dedication, and legendary people skills. Highlights include the revision of Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 on race and ethnicity classification in 1997; the enactment of the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) of 2002; the development of guidance from an interagency technical working group (which she co-chaired) that led to publication of the Supplemental Poverty Measure in 2011; and the issuance of Statistical Policy Directive No. 1 on Fundamental Responsibilities of Federal Statistical Agencies and Recognized Statistical Units in 2014 (now part of the bipartisan Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, along with CIPSEA).

She was also a much-admired and unifying force in the international statistical community, holding several leadership positions. She chaired the UN Statistical Commission (2004–2005) and the Conference of European Statisticians, UN Economic Commission for Europe (2003–2007). She also served as vice chair of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Statistics Committee (2009–2011).

Katherine remained active professionally after her retirement, serving on the Council of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan and other boards. She was a doer and a leader in the ASA from early in her career, becoming a Fellow in 1983, serving as president in 1992, receiving the Founders Award in 2007, serving on the ASA Scientific and Public Affairs Advisory Committee, and working with the ASA Office of Science Policy on numerous projects in support of federal statistics.

She was twice honored as a Presidential Meritorious Executive and received the Robert G. Damus Award for significant, sustained contributions to the integrity and excellence of OMB (2009). She was an elected member of the International Statistical Institute, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a founding member of the International Association for Official Statistics. She received the Population Association of America’s Excellence in Public Service Award (2011) and the Julius Shiskin Award for Economic Statistics from the Washington Statistical Society and National Association of Business Economists (2017).