Established by Warren Miller, who served as its first director, ICPSR (initially ICPR) was created to collect, curate, preserve, and disseminate social science data and to provide training through the Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research. Originally housed within the Political Behavior Program of the Survey Research Center and then the Center for Political Studies, ICPSR became a self-standing center in 1998. It has grown from the original 21 founding member institutions to more than 660 members with a substantial international presence, and now trains over 800 scholars each summer. Considered the world’s largest archive of digital social science data—currently with more than one million research data files—ICPSR is a leader in data access and stewardship issues for the community.
