Melinda Williams has been appointed as the new director of the Department of Statistics. The announcement was made today by Derrick Binns, the secretary to the Cabinet and head of the civil service.

“Ms Williams has been with the Bermuda Government for 31 years and during her tenure has been employed in a number of positions that make her the ideal candidate to head the Department of Statistics,” Dr Binns said.

“She brings to the position a wealth of knowledge and experience in statistics, together with an overview of Government.”

Dr Binns said that Ms William’s career within the public service has been outstanding and showed steady progression of competence, which has led her to successfully applying for and attaining the position of director, and extended his congratulations to Ms Williams.

He added that she will be responsible for leading the department, overseeing the Bermuda Census process and producing statistical data, surveys and publications for the Government.

Ms Williams joined the public service as a statistical officer in 1984 and was promoted to social statistician in 1992.

During her tenure, she gained experience as the parliamentary voter registration survey supervisor for the 1987 and 1995 surveys.

She also served on Census Planning Teams in 1991, 2000 and 2010, and was the assistant superintendent for the 2000 Population and Housing Census between 1999 and 2001.

In 2005, Ms Williams spent seven months in the Central Policy Unit as a Sustainable Development Project team member.

Returning to the Department of Statistics, she resumed her duties as social statistician, a position she has held for the past 23 years. Ms Williams has acted recently as director of the Department of Statistics for more than a year.