2026 UCSF Chancellor's Health Policy Lecture - Robert Santos

The Honorable Robert L. Santos is a nationally renowned statistician.  He served as the presidentially appointed and senate-confirmed 26th director of the U.S. Census Bureau – the largest federal statistical agency -- between January 2022 and February 2025.

His career spans more than 45 years in survey research, statistical design and analysis and executive-level management. Before the Census Bureau appointment, he spent 15 years as vice president and chief methodologist at the Urban Institute, Washington, DC, and served as executive vice president and partner of NuStats, a social science research firm in Austin, Texas.

Santos has held leadership positions at the nation’s top survey research organizations, including the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center (NORC), the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research and Temple University’s Institute for Survey Research.

Santos served as the 2021 president of the American Statistical Association (ASA) and is an ASA fellow and 2006 recipient of ASA’s highest recognition, the Founder’s Award. He served as president of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) in 2014 and received the 2021 AAPOR Award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement. He also received the 2022 Ohtli Award, the highest recognition bestowed by the Mexican government to acknowledge contributions to the Mexican community by people living outside of Mexico. In 2023, he received the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund’s Excellence in Community Service Award.

Santos was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Trinity University in San Antonio and a master’s degree in statistics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In 2023, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Sciences by North Carolina State University as well as an honorary Associate of Science from San Antonio College.