Suzanne Gordon recognized for creative, innovative approach in aligning IT department with business strategy

CARY, N.C. (January 6, 2003) – SAS, the leader in business intelligence, announced today that Suzanne Gordon, vice president of information technology, has been recognized by Computerworld, IDG’s weekly newspaper for IT leaders, as one of the business world’s Premier 100 IT Leaders. The award honors individuals who have creatively applied technology to execute their organizations’ business strategies.

The Premier 100 IT Leaders award, now entering its fourth year, recognizes exceptional technology leadership, innovative approaches to business challenges and effective execution of comprehensive IT strategies. Gordon will be honored at the Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leaders Conference, February 23-25, at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Gordon was selected from hundreds of nominees as one of the leaders who most closely matched Computerworld’s Leadership Index, a set of characteristics that describes business and technology professionals who guide the effective use of IT within their organizations. Other award winners include leading IT executives from such corporations as Bayer Pharmaceutical; Circuit City Stores, Inc.; Dow Chemical Company; and MasterCard International.

"Computerworld’s, Premier 100 IT Leaders have demonstrated a real depth of understanding about the value of IT investments, and that connects them very effectively with other senior business executives," said Maryfran Johnson, editor-in-chief of Computerworld. "As IT executives at the top of their profession, they create best practices in technology use and translate those into business success."

As vice president of information technology, Gordon oversees SAS’ information technology services and the more than 300 employees in the departments of Business Intelligence & Support, Information Systems Administration, Information Technology Services, Information Technology Strategy, Mainframe Support, Management Information Systems and Systems Technology Support. A SAS employee for more than 20 years, Gordon previously served as acting vice president of the SAS Professional Services Division, directing the consulting, strategic support and partnering activities of nearly 300 employees. She has also headed SAS’ Management Information Systems Division, managing a 100-member team that developed, maintained and enhanced more than 150 applications. Gordon is a graduate of North Carolina State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in math and computer science and a master’s degree in statistics.

"We are honored Computerworld has recognized Suzanne for her technical savvy and business acumen," said Dr. Jim Goodnight, president and CEO of SAS. "She has a unique ability to motivate and inspire her team to achieve excellence, and SAS has benefited greatly from her expertise and vision. We are proud of her achievements and are confident she will continue to make even more innovative contributions to SAS in the future."

The complete list of Premier 100 IT Leaders can be found in the January 6, 2003 issue of Computerworld and online at www.computerworld.com. The issue includes several feature articles summarizing the challenges IT leaders expect to face in the coming year including managing the IT workforce, improving core systems, vendor management and aligning technology projects with business goals.

About Computerworld

Computerworld is the only integrated media company focused exclusively on the information needs of IT leaders – those who manage and implement technology in Global 2000 organizations. The company’s flagship weekly newspaper – along with its Computerworld.com Web site and conference series for IT leaders – form the U.S.-based hub of the world’s largest (58-edition) worldwide IT media network. Publishing since 1967, Computerworld has been recognized numerous times by Folio: Magazine and the Computer Press Association as the best computer newspaper, and was named to the "Media Power 50" in 2002 by Crain Communications’ BtoB Magazine. Winner of more than 70 print and online editorial awards since 1998, Computerworld has a newspaper circulation of 202,000, a total print audience of 1,846,000 (according to IntelliQuest CIMS v.9.0), and an online audience of 800,000 unique monthly visitors (according to DoubleClick). Breaking news and resources for IT leaders are available at www.computerworld.com.

About SAS
SAS is the market leader in providing a new generation of business intelligence software and services that create true enterprise intelligence. SAS solutions are used at more than 39,000 sites - including 98 of the top 100 businesses on the Fortune 500 - to develop more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers; to enable better, more accurate and informed decisions; and to drive organizations forward. SAS is the only vendor that completely integrates leading data warehousing, analytics and traditional BI applications to create intelligence from massive amounts of data. For more than 25 years, SAS has been giving customers around the world The Power to Know^®.

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