Westat Inc. began as a partnership in 1961 with co-founders Edward C. Bryant, Ph.D., a tenured full professor of statistics at the University of Wyoming, and two former students, James Daley and Donald King. In 1963, the company was incorporated. Dr. Bryant served as the company’s first President until 1978, when Joseph Hunt took over as President for the next 32 years. In 1981, Westat moved to its present location in Rockville, Maryland and today maintains staff in the U.S, China, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, India, South Africa and Thailand. In May 2011, James E. Smith, Ph.D., became President and CEO of the company. Graham Kalton, Ph.D., stepped down as Chairman of the Board in 2019, and was replaced by Smith.
Recent acquisitions
Westat acquired education research and technical assistance specialist, Edvance Research in January 2016 and healthcare data analytics firm, JEN Associates in February 2018, both for an undisclosed amount.
Research activities
Westat conducts studies on respondent knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, program evaluation, physical, mental, and behavioral health, academic achievement and literacy, early childhood longitudinal studies, child abuse and neglect, medical treatments and outcomes, exposure assessments, and information management and communications solutions. The company supports two software packages, WesVar and Blaise. The former is a variance estimation software while the latter is a survey processing system.
Corporate structure
Westat is employee-owned. All employees can earn a share of ownership through the Westat Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Since the introduction of the plan in 1977, the value of employee holdings has grown.
Recognition and claims
Westat was the recipient of the Policy Impact Award by the American Association for Public Opinion Research in 2011 and 2014, for work for survey work related to “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and the National Prison Rape Statistics Program, respectively. In September 2014, Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs discovered, during a scheduled audit of Westat, that the company systematically failed to provide equal employment opportunities to women applicants and applicants with other ethnicities for various positions between the period of October 2008 to September 2009. Under the terms of the settlement, Westat paid $1,500,000 in back wages and interest to all affected applicants, made 113 job offers to the original class members as positions become available, corrected record-keeping violations and conducted internal audits. This led Westat to rank #279 in Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of America's Best Employers For Diversity 2019, rank #228 in Best Employers for Women 2019, and rank #37 in Best-in-State Employers 2019. The company was also ranked #86 in the 2019 Top 100 companies by Washington Technology.
