Marie Delaney Eldridge (June 1, 1926 – June 13, 2009) was an American statistician. She was director of statistics and analysis at the

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" rel ...

, a director of the

Research Triangle Institute Research Triangle Institute, trading as RTI International, is a nonprofit organization headquartered in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. RTI provides research and technical services. It was founded in 1958 with $500,000 in funding fr ...

, president of the Washington Statistical Society, and since 1969 a

Fellow of the American Statistical Association Like many other academic professional societies, the American Statistical Association (ASA) uses the title of Fellow of the American Statistical Association as its highest honorary grade of membership. The number of new fellows per year is limited ...

. Her maiden name was Marie Matilda Delaney; she was originally from

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. She did her undergraduate studies at the

College of Notre Dame of Maryland Notre Dame of Maryland University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Baltimore, Maryland. NDMU offers certificate, undergraduate, and graduate programs for women and men. History The Roman Catholic academic ...

, graduating in 1948. After working in industry for the

Revere Copper Company The Revere Copper Company is a copper rolling mill in the United States. It operated North America's first copper rolling mill. It was started by Paul Revere in 1801 in Canton, Massachusetts, and developed a commercially viable process for manufa ...

, she obtained a master's degree in 1953 from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

. For the next several decades she worked in the federal government, beginning with the

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. To qualify ...

and the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the 1950s. Her husband, Paul Eldridge, was also a statistician in the federal government, working primarily in aviation. She was chief of advisory and development services for the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Departmen ...

in the early 1960s, transferred to the

National Institute of Mental Health The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH, in turn, is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the prima ...

in 1962, and then transferred again to the predecessor to the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

in 1966. By the early 1970s, she worked for the National Highway Safety Administration, where she directed the Office of Statistics and Analysis. From 1978 to her retirement in 1984 she worked at the National Center for Education Statistics. She served on the board of directors of the Research Triangle Institute from 1983 to 1988 before retiring again and supporting herself as a realtor. She died in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, of multiple myeloma.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eldridge, Marie Delaney 1926 births 2009 deaths Deaths from multiple myeloma American statisticians Women statisticians Notre Dame of Maryland University alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Fellows of the American Statistical Association