Courtenay Murphy Slater - Obituary

ourtenay Murphy Slater died of natural causes on Sunday, September 10, 2017 at her home in Annapolis, MD. Born on July 23, 1933 in Durham, NC, Courtenay grew up in Silver Spring, MD graduating from Montgomery Blair High School and Oberlin College before earning a PhD in economics from American University. She worked as a federal government economist for the Joint Economic Committee of Congress and for the President’s Council of Economic Advisors. During the administration of President Carter, Dr. Slater was the Chief Economist of the U.S. Department of Commerce, supervising the Bureaus of Economic Statistics and of the Census. She oversaw the design and execution of the 1980 Census. Dr. Slater is survived by her husband of 63 years, Whitney Slater; her three sons, Charles S., W. Ruffin and Harold B. Slater; her brother, C. Westbrook Murphy; her sister, Elizabeth G. Murphy and three grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are private. The family suggests that memorial donations be made to DC Central Kitchen or American University. On line condolences and tributes may be left by clicking on the link to the left of this page.