Robert P. Parker, age 84, of Washington DC, passed away peacefully in his home at Ingleside at Rock Creek on February 16.
He spent 10 years at the Census Bureau, developing new economic statistics programs. He then worked for 30 years at the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), rising to positions of Chief Statistician and Associate Director for National Economic Accounts. At BEA, he directed the preparation of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) accounts and played a major role in improving their reliability, relevance, and transparency. After BEA, he spent 5 years as Chief Statistician of the Government Accountability Office, directing congressional reports on federal statistics, including a study of the American Community Survey, the replacement for the decennial Census “long form.”
When he left BEA, an article in Barron’s weekly report dubbed Bob “The King of Stats.” He was a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, recipient of the Shiskin Award for Economic Statistics, and of the Butler Award by the New York Association for Business Economics. He also served on the COPAFS Board.