Karl D. Gregory, a retired Oakland (Mich.) University distinguished professor, has been selected by Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez to serve on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Advisory Committee on the African-American population.

      As a member of the nine-person committee, the Southfield, Mich., resident will advise the Census Bureau on the new American Community Survey and ways to achieve a more accurate count of the African-American population in the 2010 Census.

     Gregory retired in 1996 as a distinguished professor emeritus in the School of Business Administration at Oakland University. Gregory also has served as a member of the Advisory Committee on Trade Negotiations under both Presidents Carter and Reagan. He also served on the board of directors of several financial institutions, including the Detroit Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

      Additional community service activities include membership on the boards of directors of the Detroit Chapter of the Urban League, the United Way for Southeastern Michigan and the Inner City Business Improvement Forum. Gregory earned a doctorate from the University of Michigan in economics. His extensive local and national community service, as well as his familiarity with census data, will significantly benefit this committee.

     Five race and ethnic advisory committees — African-American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander — advise the Census Bureau on issues affecting minority populations. The committees are assembled from the public at large and representatives of national, state, local and tribal entities, as well as nonprofit and private sector organizations. Members of the committees are academicians, community leaders, policy makers and others interested in an accurate count for their communities.