The AAPOR Public Service Award award is intended to recognize and honor outstanding public service and dedication to maintaining AAPOR standards. It recognizes persons who work on behalf of the public sector and have contributed to the quality of government surveys, data systems, research, leadership, and/or policy.
2026 – Diane Willimack, Retired, National Agricultural Statistical Service & Census Bureau
A dedicated public servant for more than 40 years, Ms. Willimack has been a steadfast advocate for rigorous, evidence-based survey design for establishment surveys, ensuring that business and economic data collections receive the same methodological attention traditionally devoted to household surveys.
Early in her career at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she pioneered methodological research, including a nationwide sample-based record-keeping study, randomized experimentation with response improvement strategies, along with cognitive pretesting.
At the U.S. Census Bureau, she led a methodological team for over two decades, advancing cognitive and methodological approaches for designing dozens of business surveys, improving data quality while reducing response burden.
Moreover, Ms. Willimack’s contributions have had a global impact, as a co-author of the landmark international volume Designing and Conducting Business Surveys, which defined best practices for this critical domain. A generous mentor, inter-disciplinary collaborator, and long-time AAPOR member.
Ms. Willimack’s legacy not only impacts quality in Official Statistics, but also future generations of public servants dedicated to this mission. Clearly, Ms. Willimack is deeply deserving of this honor.
2025 -Linda Young, U.S. Department of Agriculture
2024 – Brian Harris-Kojetin, Senior Scholar- Committee on National Statistics
2023 – Stephen Blumberg, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
2022 – Emilda B. Rivers
2021 – Dawn V. Nelson
2020 – Gordon Willis
2019 – Nancy Bates
2018 – Scott Fricker
