Cecilia A. Conrad, an associate dean at Pomona (Calif.) College, 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 Pomona 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.

    Conrad is an economist whose primary research interest is in economic impacts of race and gender, urban economies and workforce/labor market trends. She was named California Professor of the Year in 2002 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and awarded the Distinguished Professorship Award for Excellence in Teaching. Conrad earned a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and master’s and doctorate degrees from Stanford University. Currently, she is a Stedman-Sumner professor of economics at Pomona College.

    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.