It is with great sadness I share the news of the passing of Steven Harold Murdock, our former U.S. Census Bureau director.

Dr. Murdock was nominated by President George W. Bush for director on June 18, 2007, and the Senate confirmed him unanimously in December of that year. He officially became director of the Census Bureau on January 4, 2008, and vacated the position January 9, 2009.

When he accepted the job, Dr. Murdock knew that it would only be for one year until a new President took over and made his own appointee – a terrific example of someone who puts public service above personal gain or personal needs. He is credited with being the steady hand that kept the 2010 Census on course between Director Kincannon resigning and knowing that his replacement would scarcely have one year in the role of director before the start of the 2010 Census.

The first official state demographer of Texas, Dr. Murdock headed the Texas State Data Center and Texas Population Estimates and Projections Program for more than 25 years, taking a leadership role in the state’s activities in the 1980, 1990, and 2000 decennial censuses. 

He studied and wrote about the distribution of populations of Texas, wrote dozens of books and nearly 50 academic journal articles about U.S. and Texas changing population characteristics such as race, education, and income.

In 2007, he went to Rice University in Houston as the Allyn and Gladys Cline Chair in sociology specializing in applied demography, migration, rural sociology and socioeconomic impact assessment. There, he served as director of the Hobby Center for the Study of for 9 years.

He was professor and head of demographic studies at Texas A&M University in College Station for 25 years.  He also served as professor and head of population studies at the University of Texas in San Antonio for 10 years, where he became the Lutcher Brown Distinguished Chair in Demography and Organization Studies.

Dr. Murdock originated and institutionalized the position of “Texas State Demographer” by making on average 50 to 60 requested presentations each year (to groups such as Texas legislators, superintendents of education, and other academics) on the growth and changing distributions of Texas’ population.

Texas Business named him one of the 50 most influential Texans in 1997, and Texas Monthly named him one of the 25 most influential persons in the state in 2005. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Eta Epsilon national honor societies.

Dr. Murdock was a member of several professional associations including the Population Association of America, the Rural Sociological Society, the Southern Regional Demographic Association, the Southwestern Sociological Society and the Southern Sociological Society. He supported and served as major professor for scores of Ph.D. students.

We mourn the loss of this Census Bureau leader and share our sorrow at his passing with his wife Mary Zey and the rest of his family.