Former Census Bureau Director Vincent Barabba, who led the agency under President Nixon and later returned to guide the 1980 Census, has died at 92, the bureau announced.
"I am saddened to share the news of the passing of former Census Bureau Director Vincent Barabba, who had just celebrated his 92nd birthday earlier this month," said George M. Cook, Performing the Duties of Director.
Barabba was born in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois. He earned his undergraduate degree from Woodbury Business College in 1954, then enlisted in the Air Force and served from 1954 until 1958. He later attended California State University, Northridge, and earned his M.B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1964.
Barabba became president of Datamatics, Inc. in 1966 and was later named chairman of the board of Decision Making Information, serving until 1973, when President Nixon tapped him to serve as director of the Census Bureau.
He resigned as director in 1976 to become manager of market research for the Xerox Corporation. He returned to the Census Bureau in 1979 to help guide the collection and tabulation of the 1980 Census before resigning again in 1981.