Dennis R. Johnson - a native of Kansas City, Mo. - was named director of the U.S. Census Bureau's Kansas City Regional Office in December 2005. He is responsible for all census activities in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Oklahoma.

Johnson began his Census Bureau career in 1976 in Kansas City as a survey statistician. He supervised a number of federal surveys including the American Housing Survey, the National Health Interview Survey, the National Crime Victimization Survey, the Surveys of Construction and the Current Business Reports. He also helped in the completion of the 1980 Census in the Kansas City and New York regions.

From 1983 through 1987, Johnson provided training and data services to census partners in the Kansas City region, served as media contact and initiated many of the partnership activities leading up to the 1990 Census. As area manager during the 1990 Census, he directed data collection for 12 district offices in Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri, and earned the Department of Commerce's Bronze Medal.

Following the 1990 Census, Johnson served as a program supervisor for the Survey of Income and Program Participation, overseeing the conversion of data collection activities from a paper and pencil operation to an automated environment.

During Census 2000, Johnson was appointed assistant regional census manager for the Kansas City region. His responsibilities included oversight of all census operations in the six-state region, which included 36 local census offices and 60,000 employees.

After the census, Johnson relocated to the Denver Regional Office to serve as program coordinator for that 10-state region. His areas of responsibility included the Current Population Survey, the American Community Survey, the geographic programs, special censuses, the 2006 Census Test on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota and planning for the 2010 Census.

In December 2005, he returned home as regional director in Kansas City, where his primary duties include the oversight of all survey activities and preparations for the 2010 Census. Johnson is active with his large extended family, his church family and the federal community in Kansas City as a member of the Federal Executive Board.