SAS R&D Director to Be President of the American Statistical Association

June 7, 2010

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Robert N. Rodriguez, a 27-year SAS Veteran, Becomes President-Elect in 2011, President in 2012

CARY, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The American Statistical Association (ASA), an 18,000-member scientific and educational society based in Alexandria, VA, has elected a longtime employee of business analytics leader SAS as its future president. Robert N. Rodriguez, Senior Director of R&D, will serve as the ASA’s 107^th president when his term begins on Jan. 1, 2012. Three other SAS employees were also recently elected to positions within the association.

“I would not be able to take on this responsibility without the support of many friends and colleagues,” Rodriguez said. “We are fortunate at SAS to have a work environment that encourages professional development and contribution to organizations like the ASA. Over the years, this investment has enabled us to keep pace with advances in statistical methodology, and it has led to countless professional interactions with researchers and customers that have greatly enhanced the caliber and reputation of our statistical software.”

Members of the ASA, founded in 1839, serve in academia, government and industry. Its mission is to promote excellence in the application of statistical science to the needs of society. Among Rodriguez’s goals as president is to increase public awareness of the value and impact of the field of statistics, while growing the association’s membership by reaching out to the next generation of statisticians.

“I think Bob will do a wonderful job,” said SAS CEO Jim Goodnight, an ASA Fellow. “His election is certainly an honor for him and the company, as well.”

John Sall, co-founder and Executive Vice President of SAS, and also an ASA Fellow, said: “Bob has been a delight to work with for many years, and he has contributed great service to our association. The nomination process looked closely at people who have worked for the association for many years, and Bob was an obvious choice.”

Rodriguez has been an active member of the ASA for more than 35 years, serving in a variety of leadership roles. In 2004, Rodriguez was named an ASA Fellow for distinguished contributions in the field of statistics. Last year, he received the ASA’s Founders Award, which is presented to members who have rendered years of distinguished service to the association. He was Vice President of the ASA from 2006 to 2008, and has also served the association through other elected positions, committee appointments, conference presentations and numerous editorial contributions.

Rodriguez came to SAS as a Senior Research Statistician in 1983 after six years as a Staff Research Scientist with General Motors Research Laboratories. After earning his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Case Western Reserve University, Rodriguez went on to earn his master’s degree and doctorate in statistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

More election winners from SAS

Three other SAS employees were elected to ASA positions in the most recent election:

Research Statistician Developer John Castelloe, who was elected Council of Sections Representative in the Section on Statistical Computing.
Director of R&D Mark Little, who was elected Chair-Elect of the Business and Economic Statistics Section.
Systems Engineer Don McCormack, who was elected Chair-Elect of the Section on Quality and Productivity.

Complete election results are available on the ASA website.

About SAS

SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions delivered within an integrated framework, SAS helps customers at more than 45,000 sites improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW^®. SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright © 2010 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.

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