Paul Watanabe, director of the Institute for Asian American Studies and associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Boston, has been selected by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to serve on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Advisory Committee on the Asian population.

     As a member of the nine-person committee, the South Weymouth, Mass., resident will advise the Census Bureau on ways to achieve a more accurate count of the Asian population in the 2010 Census.

     “The Race and Ethnic Advisory Committees provide a continuing channel of communication between the Census Bureau and race and ethnic communities,” Census Bureau Acting Director Tom Mesenbourg said. “The committees play a vital role in ensuring that we make the best effort possible to reach race and ethnic groups, not only during the 2010 Census, but also the American Community Survey that is conducted throughout the decade.”

     Watanabe’s principal research and teaching interests are in the areas of American political behavior, ethnic group politics, Asian-Americans and American foreign policy. He is the author of “Ethnic Groups, Congress, and American Foreign Policy: the Politics of the Turkish Arms Embargo” and principal author of “A Dream Deferred: Changing Demographics, Challenges, and New Opportunities for Boston.” He regularly contributes analysis and commentary to national and local television, radio, newspapers and magazines.

     He has served on several boards of nonprofit organizations, including the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, Political Research Associates, the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence, the Harvard Community Health Plan, the Nisei Student Relocation Commemorative Fund, and the Asian American Policy Review.

     Watanabe was born in Murray, Utah. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Utah and master’s and doctorate degrees from Harvard University.

     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.