Eight professors at the 91̽�� have been elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences, the organization . The Academy said members are elected “in recognition of their outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement, and their willingness to work on behalf of the Academy to bring the best available science to bear on issues within the state of Washington.”��

The 2023 cohort includes 29 new members. Twenty-six were elected by current WSAS members, and the other three were selected because they recently joined one of the National Academies.����

The 91̽��faculty who will be formally inducted in September are:����

• , Kirby & Kelly Cramer Endowed Professor of Nursing, for “contributions to improving public health systems and services. Foundational to Senator Murray’s , her research supports collection of standardized public health financial data assessing impact.”��
• , associate professor of microbiology and of genome sciences at the 91̽��School of Medicine and professor and investigator at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, for “contributions to our understanding of viral evolution and how mutations shape a pathogen’s ability to infect and spread. His discoveries have driven the scientific and public discourse on numerous viruses, including influenza, HIV, and most recently SARS-CoV-2.”��
• , Washington Research Foundation Innovation Professor in Clean Energy and professor of mechanical engineering, for “outstanding contributions to the fundamental understanding of battery electrode architectures and the development of advanced manufacturing methods to accelerate commercialization of materials processing technology.”��
• , professor of sociology and of public policy and governance, director of the and associate vice provost for research, for “groundbreaking work in demography and the sociology of migration, taking a multi-faceted approach that illuminates the dynamic interplay between demographic conditions and factors such as gender, socio-economic context, and climate change.”��
• , research professor of microbiology at the 91̽��School of Medicine, professor at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and director of the Pathogen-Associated Malignancies Integrated Research Center, for “For contributions to advancing our understanding of the role that small DNA tumor viruses – human papillomaviruses (HPV) and human polyomavirus (HPyV) – play in cancer development.”
• , J. Ray Bowen Endowed Professor for Innovation in Engineering Education and professor of aeronautics and astronautics, for “extraordinary contributions to guidance and control of autonomous and distributed aerospace systems, for leadership in educational innovations, and for advancing aerospace technology transfers leading to industry research collaborations throughout his career.”��
• , Michael G. Foster Endowed Professor of Information Systems and chair of the Department of Information Systems and Operations Management, for “outstanding contributions to advance our understanding of how technologies impact the behaviors and decision-making of individuals, organizations, and society in the contexts of e-commerce, social media, fintech, healthcare, and sharing economy.”��
• , Thomas and Marilyn Nielsen Endowed Professor in Engineering, professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of PacTrans and STAR Lab, for “pioneering contributions to traffic sensing, transportation data science, edge AI, and smart infrastructure system theory and technologies, as well as the exceptional leadership in regional collaborations among academia, industry, and agencies for creating transformational mobility solutions.”��

Correction: An earlier version of this release omitted the election of Denise Galloway to the Academy.

When planning for the 2020 census was just getting underway, perhaps about the constitutionally mandated count were that it was to be the first in the era of social media, and the first to be conducted mostly online.

Every decade since 1930, April 1 has been designated Census Day, by which all people are expected to receive a notice to participate. Respondents also use that date to answer questions on the once-a-decade count of who lives in their home as of April 1.

Under normal circumstances, initial counting efforts would have wrapped up by July, and enumerators not only would have several more months to follow up with households that hadn’t responded the first time around, but also to reconcile the data. That would have put the U.S. Census Bureau on track to meet its legal deadline of Dec. 31 for providing the president with an accurate count of each state’s population. Census data is used for a variety of purposes, including determining how much government funding should be allocated to state and local jurisdictions and apportionment allocations for congressional districts.

But in recent years, key political issues emerged that have disrupted the typical course of events. First, the Trump administration asked for a citizenship question to be added to the census, but in 2019 was . Not long afterward, as the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to upend the traditional door-to-door operations, the Commerce Department asked to have more time — to the end of October, rather than July — to follow up with “nonresponse” households. The department then asked for a series of further deadline modifications throughout the process but, in a last-minute switch, asked to keep the deadline to send the count to the president the same: Dec. 31. Though some congressional delegations raised concerns about the potential for undercounting, the U.S. Supreme Court .

That shortened time between the end of the count, and the Dec. 31 deadline of delivering the count to the president, shortchanges data reconciliation processes that ensure an accurate count, explains , director of the Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology at the 91̽�� and a professor of international studies, sociology, and of public policy. These data reconciliation processes were statutorily set for four months after the close of enumeration, but now are being given only two and a half months. On Thursday, census officials said .

On Nov. 30, the Supreme Court will take up yet another census issue raised by the Trump administration: whether it can exclude undocumented immigrants from the count it uses to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“For decades the U.S. Census Bureau has prided itself on its civic duty for scientific professionalism and the provision of accurate data for informing local, state and federal governments about the needs of all residents, businesses and communities. Enshrined in Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution, the complete enumeration of all persons reflected the framers’ belief in scientific reasoning for effective democratic governance,” Curran said. “However, as with many other aspects of our democratic institutions, the current administration has sowed considerable confusion about census data and raised the specter of distrust in its quality, relevance and accuracy.”

�� 91̽��News spoke with Curran about the controversy surrounding the 2020 census, and what may come next.

Does the outcome of the recent presidential election have any effect on the census?

��It’s not so much the presidential election, but the results of the runoff elections in January that will determine control of the Senate. As with most instances over the last four years, my answer is going to get into some uncharted territory.

Normally, according to Title 2 of the U.S. Code, within one week of the opening of the next session of the Congress after Dec. 31, the president must report to the clerk of the House of Representatives the apportionment population counts for each state and the number of representatives to which each state is entitled. If the Nov. 30 hearing before the Supreme Court yields a decision that supports the administration, and allows for excluding undocumented immigrants in the enumeration, then I expect there will be a major fight in the U.S. Congress. ��States where there may be a significant loss in population by eliminating undocumented immigrants, such as California, Florida and Texas, would be on the hook to either lose seats or not gain more seats in the House of Representatives. This loss would also affect over $600 billion in federal funds allocated annually to states according to their apportionment.

What is the logistical – impact of a shorter timeline in getting census results to the president?

The earlier deadline for the census count, originally set for July, allowed for the continued and challenging efforts to count hard-to-reach populations and to conduct the substantial, systematic and thorough data reconciliation processing to ensure that the census does not yield under- or over- counts of any groups of persons. These processes took four months during the 2010 census and were expected to take longer this year, because of the new online and phone-based data collection efforts, the variability of follow-up rates to census nonresponses and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Commerce Department claims that 99% of households have been counted. Why is that in question?

That count includes both the count of people or households who self-responded and a count of “nonresponse” people or households whom enumerators reported following up on. For the latter, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross claimed that census enumerators used efficient ways to impute, or estimate, the counts for those persons and households. This imputation approach drew upon other sources of data for a nonresponse address, but it is not yet clear how data reconciliation processes will hash out the variability in imputation rates and the quality of those imputations. This year, Washington state had a pretty high self-response rate at 72.4%. For Puerto Rico more than 64% of the count is imputed, whereas in Minnesota, data is imputed on fewer than 25% of households.

This seems to be a particularly controversial census. But have there been other significant disputes over previous censuses?

The 1920 census was controversial because the country had just experienced dramatic increases in its immigrant population, especially immigrants to the country’s cities. While the actual numbers were validated, they were not used for apportionment purposes during 1920-1930 because of substantial and successful legislative resistance from congressional representatives in rural districts.

During the Second World War, census information was used to relocate Japanese Americans for internment, which also violated the promised confidentiality of the census. Following the war, Congress added statutory language to ensure complete confidentiality of census data. Since then, there has never been a data breach. Other debates in the census have included those around how we count race and ethnicity, which has been politically charged, and with each decade, yielded different ways of categorizing our population.

Additionally, the amount of information collected on the census has been contentious: By 2000, both to cut costs and increase response rates, the long-form version of the census was eliminated, and only a short-form census is used now. The American Community Survey, an annual, nationally represented sample of households, replaced the long form.

For those who worry about the accuracy of the final 2020 census, is there any opportunity to revisit the outcome, or do we wait for 2030?

��I’m sure that there will be considerable efforts to advocate for, and support, an accurate final product. Census products are absolutely vital for the conduct of life in the U.S., from private to public to civil society sectors. When it comes to the allocation of federal dollars or the apportionment counts, deciding on which number is the accurate one is probably going to be both adjudicated in the courts and through legislative action. I am often an optimist, and as painful as these political debates and processes might be, I hope this will be a teachable moment and an opportunity for everyone to understand better why we need well-funded, scientifically informed, expert-led federal and state agencies to provide accurate and comprehensive data about the country.

The 91̽��’s , or CSDE, along with partners in the Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences and the , is among eight awardees across the country selected to develop training programs in advanced data analytics for population health through the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research.

This five-year, $1.8 million training program at the 91̽��will fund 25 academic-year graduate fellowships, develop a new training curriculum and contribute to methodological advances in health research at the intersection of demography and data science.

The new training program will be led by , assistant professor of sociology, and will build on CSDE’s graduate certificate in demographic methods by integrating training in advanced statistics and computational methods.

The inaugural cohort will begin the program in October and is composed of graduate students Ian Kennedy, Neal Marquez and Crystal Yu, all in sociology; Emily Pollock in anthropology; and Aja Sutton in geography.

“Our faculty are at the forefront of research programs grounded in advanced data analytics,” said Robert Stacey, dean of the UW’s College of Arts and Sciences. “This grant recognizes the important interdisciplinary work happening across the UW, and particularly in the social sciences, to build this knowledge into much-needed education and training programs.”

, associate professor of sociology and statistics, and , professor of statistics and biostatistics, led��the grant application with support from , director of the CSDE and a professor of international studies, public policy and sociology, along with faculty affiliated with CSDE, CSSS and the eScience Institute.

The NIH review praised UW’s plans. “The leadership team has well-established credentials, complementary expertise, and a strong track record and the proposed program builds on an existing program with demonstrable record of success,” noted reviewers. “The curriculum – which offers coursework in statistical methods, machine learning, coding, databases, data visualization and data ethics – is well-thought-out and will provide trainees with numerous immersive opportunities.”

This funding was designed to fill educational gaps and needs in the behavioral and social sciences research community that are not being addressed by existing educational opportunities, according to the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. The other institutions awarded similar grants include Emory University; Johns Hopkins University; Stanford University; University of Arkansas Medical Center; the University of California, Berkeley; UC San Diego; and UC San Francisco. More information about the national initiative can be found .

For more information, contact Curran at scurran@uw.edu or Almquist at zalmquist@uw.edu.

Adapted from information provided by the 91̽��Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology.

Jessica Ray named among Talented 12 ‘young stars’ by chemical and engineering newsmagazine

, 91̽��assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been named a member of the 2020 of young chemists working to solve world problems by the weekly newsmagazine Chemical & Engineering News, or C&EN.

The honors, bestowed each year since 2015, highlight a dozen “rising young stars who are using chemical know-how to change the world.” Ray, who joined the 91̽��in 2019, researches composites, surface chemistry and targeted removal and recovery of wastewater constituents. She is developing low-cost selective absorbents to remove toxic compounds from wastewater and improve drinking water.

The Talented 12 honorees will give short TED-style talks about their research during a two-day that will be part of the magazine’s free inaugural online Futures Festival Aug. 25 and 26.

The magazine is a publication of the Read an article about this honor and Ray’s work on the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering .

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Richard Ladner receives National Science Board 2020 Public Service Award

The National Science Board has named 91̽��computer scientist recipient of its , honoring his career of contributions to increasing public understanding of science and engineering.

Ladner is a professor emeritus in the UW’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. The board, called the NSB for short, was created by the National Science Foundation Act of 1950. Its dual roles are to establish science policy and to serve as an independent body of advisers to the nation’s leaders. The award was established in 1996.

The board , who has championed digital accessibility and inclusivity, for “demonstrated exemplary science communication and diversity advocacy throughout his career and has been called the ‘conscience of computing.'”

Victor McCrary, NSB vice chair, said, “We cannot exclude anyone when it comes to the important pursuit of scientific advancement. Richard Ladner’s work has significantly enlarged the circle of perspectives at the bench, and by welcoming and empowering those with disabilities to fully contribute he has greatly enhanced and advanced our nation’s global leadership in science, engineering, and technology.”

Read more on the Allen School’s .

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Maryam Fazel chosen for inaugural Moorthy family endowed professorship

, 91̽��professor and associate chair in the , has been named the first recipient of the new Moorthy Family Inspiration Career Development Professorship, for her work as a researcher and educator.

Fazel co-directs the 91̽�� and holds adjunct appointments in the mathematics and statistics departments at the UW, as well as the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. Her research focuses on data science, robotics and controls.

The professorship, funded by an endowment established in 2019 by Ganesh and Hema Moorthy, recognizes the support they received from the family and in turn are passing on to other generations. Ganesh Moorthy, president and chief operating officer of Microchip Technology, earned a BA in physics from the 91̽��in 1981 and has served on the department’s advisory board. Hema Moorthy, an electrical engineer, worked at Hewlett-Packard for many years.

The endowment supports faculty members who have shown significant promise early in their careers. Read more on the department .

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Jackson School gets $200,000 cybersecurity grant from Carnegie Corp of New York

The 91̽��Jackson School of International Studies has received a $200,000 grant for cybersecurity research from .

The grant will support the expansion of the including its cybersecurity training program in the Jackson School’s , which was funded by previous grants by Carnegie. The aim is to bridge the gap between academia and the policy world.

, professor of international studies, is principal investigator for the grant. Other participating faculty are , and — all faculty members in the Jackson School. The grant will provide research opportunities for students as well.

Read more on the Jackson School .

This 10-part series examines the ongoing impact of the 2016 election on countries and regions worldwide.��Each week, Jackson School faculty experts��will explore perspectives from Europe, Asia, Mexico, Russia and the Middle East as well as questions of climate change and historical context in the U.S. presidency.

“” lectures will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Monday afternoons in room 110 of Kane Hall, and all are open to the public. Jackson School Director will be moderator for these events.

The schedule is as follows:

Oct. 2: Trump and the World — a Historical Perspective, with , assistant professor of international studies
Oct. 9: The Middle East and Israel, with , professor of international studies
Oct. 16: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Gulf, with , affiliate professor of international studies
Oct. 23: The US-Mexican Border, with , associate professor and chair of the
Oct. 30: India, with , associate professor, director of the
Nov. 6: China, with , professor of international studies
Nov. 13: The Korean Peninsula, with , professor of international studies
Nov. 20: The International Climate Regime, with , professor of international studies and director of the
Nov. 27: Russia, with , professor of history and international studies.
Dec. 4: Final panel discussion and round table.

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For more information about the series, contact the Jackson School at 206-543-6001 or jsisadv@uw.edu. Interested press may contact Monique Thormann, Jackson School director of communications, at 206-685-0578 or thormm@uw.edu.

The daylong conference is titled “.”

Jackson School Director will welcome the participants. , vice chairman of the Cohen Group, will deliver the conference’s keynote address. He is also former U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, ambassador to Turkey and assistant secretary of state for European Affairs. , longtime professor of international studies, will give concluding remarks.

The conference will feature three panels moderated by members of the 91̽��community.

• , managing director of the Canadian Studies Center, will moderate on “Changing Political and Economic Dynamics in the Arctic: Nation-States and Indigenous Permanent Participants.”
• , professor and associate director of the Jackson School, will moderate a panel on “New Regions, New Frontiers: Pacific Northwest and Asia in Outer Space.”
• , associate professor in the Jackson School and Evans School of Public Policy & Governance and director of the , will moderate a panel on “Public-Private Collaborations in Establishing International Cybersecurity Norms.”

“This New Frontiers conference launches the 91̽��’s new ,” said Kasaba. “This institute intends to��generate original thinking on emerging topics in international affairs and bring a��new and uniquely Pacific Northwest voice to the policy conversation.”

Kasaba said the event “continues and expands upon” the school’s ongoing work to connect academic and research insights with international affairs practitioners, business leaders and policymakers and international development experts as well as media representatives and security professionals from Seattle to Washington, D.C.

The event is a collaborative effort between the Jackson School and the American Academy of Diplomacy, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “support and strengthen U.S. diplomacy and enhance public appreciation of its critical role in advancing the national interest.” It is made possible through support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation.

Also attending the conference will be representatives of the RAND Corp., the Brookings Institution, the U.S. Department of State, Microsoft Corp., The Seattle Times and Aerojet Rocketdyne, among others.

The conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, in Room 334 of the Husky Union Building on the 91̽��campus. The event is free but organizers request that those planning to attend .

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For more information, contact Kristina Bowman, Jackson School communications specialist, at 206-221-1323 or kriscb@uw.edu; Monique Thormann, director of communications, at thormm@uw.edu; or Jennifer Butte-Dahl, organizer and Jackson School lecturer, at 206-221-8577 or jenbd@uw.edu.