Martha Farnsworth Riche (/ˈrɪtʃi/ RITCH-ee;[1][2] born October 16, 1939) is an American economist who directed the United States Census Bureau from 1994 to 1998.

[4] She also became editor of another publication, The Numbers News, where she documented numerical trends such as the declining proportion of white men in the American population.

[6][7] In 1983, her husband, then working at the Federal Trade Commission, was killed in a home invasion robbery in Alexandria, Virginia; Riche was shot as well, and ran screaming and bloodied to the house of a neighbor.

[5] Although she cited only personal reasons in her resignation, it was seen as a sign that Congressional Republicans were winning in their fight to prevent the Census Bureau from using sampling techniques to correct for persistent undercounting of minorities and other underrepresented groups.

[8] Riche had been among a group of officials pushing sampling, but was frequently frustrated by interruptions from higher-ups in the Commerce Department when she would speak to Congress on the issue.