SAS® History: I began using SAS on the mainframe (MVS) in 1979 during my graduate work at the University of North Carolina (UNC). The new 79 version of SAS came out over the summer and as a teaching assistant starting my master’s degree, I had to learn SAS and create a course on statistical software. I had never taught before and had dropped every course in high school and university that involved a presentation, since I was petrified of speaking in front of people. So, this was a challenge.

At the encouragement of my major professor (Bill Powers, now Director of Education for SAS in San Francisco), I read the 79 users guide cover to cover as well as practiced with SPSS and BMDP, which I had used in undergraduate work. Somehow, by the start of the fall semester, I was the SAS expert at the university. And somehow, my preference for SAS apparently came through to the graduate students that were beginning their research.

During my studies in the PhD program at UNC, I continued using and teaching SAS. My major professor, Ron Helms, worked closely with SAS and suggested that I might enjoy teaching courses for SAS.

In 1984, I began teaching SAS courses as a contractor. Traveling and meeting SAS users through the US and Canada was a wonderful experience. In addition to the basics of programming, macro and SAS/GRAPH®, I enjoyed teaching the early days of the first SAS applications development software: SAS/AF® (version 5). Coming from an eduction environment, it was very enlightening to be exposed to the application of SAS in the diverse industries where I taught.

From 1986 to 2000, I enjoyed working as an instructor and manager for the Education division of SAS. You never realize how little you know until you are around experts!

As a consultant, I now enjoy applying my SAS knowledge to the real-life challenges in the financial and insurance industries.

Pets: Because I am allergic to dogs and cats, we now have 6 lizards! – thanks to John Amrhein (a SAS instructor) who told me lizards are great pets.

Family: My husband, Robert, has been a SAS user since 1986. Most recently he served as conference chair for SAS Global Forum 2007 in Orlando. I am still trying to encourage my stepson, Jordan, to learn SAS. Somehow, he is more interested in lizards.

Sports/Hobbies: Unicycling, sailing, boating, walking.

Ideal Weekend: Sunny and warm – and preferably on the water.

Favourite Food: As a vegetarian (since 1981), I love Thai and Italian food. The spicier, the better.

If I could do anything (besides being a SAS developer), I would be: That’s a hard one. I think of SAS as a great way to understand and visualize information. SAS enables me to work in diverse industries and continually learn, so I love what I do.

When I am not working with SAS, I like to: Enjoy the water  - on a boat or beach or kayak.

One thing every SAS programmer should know: Create maintenance-free, parameter-driven code! Don’t create production code that requires constant tweaking and intervention. See some of the examples in:

http://www2.sas.com/proceedings/sugi31/251-31.pdf

http://www2.sas.com/proceedings/sugi29/262-29.pdf