Awarded jointly by the ASA’s Government Statistics and Social Statistics sections, the Wray Jackson Smith Scholarship encourages promising young statisticians to consider a career in government statistics by providing up to $1,000 for use in exploring any of a broad number of opportunities.
The scholarship is for students and others early in their careers who show an interest in government statistics. Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent level of education. Membership in the Government Statistics Section, Social Statistics Section, or ASA is not required.
Applications will be evaluated based on the relevance of the proposed activity to government statistics, quality of the proposed activity, innovation/ingenuity of the proposed project, feasibility of completion of the activity, the applicant’s career stage, and past performance as reflected in the letters of recommendation.
The scholarship was created to honor the memory of Wray Jackson Smith, a founding member of the Government Statistics Section and longtime contributor to federal statistics. Smith’s federal career spanned four decades and included positions in the Office of Economic Opportunity, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, and the Energy Information Administration. After retiring from the federal government in 1983, he continued to play a role in federal statistics in the private sector.
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