Jim Goodnight Biography

Individuals created more data in 2009 than in all of human history, according to one estimate. According to another source, the Digital Universe doubles every 18 months. All of that data, if you're Jim Goodnight, equals opportunity. SAS, the world's top business analytics software provider, is led by Goodnight. Since the company's founding in 1976, Goodnight has presided over a continuous string of revenue growth, which is nearly unprecedented in the software business. Goodnight and his colleagues at North Carolina State University built SAS software to analyze agricultural research data. It's now doing things that Goodnight could never have anticipated as a doctorate student in statistics three decades ago. SAS is best recognized nowadays for sorting enormous mountains of data for FORTUNE 500 corporations and other well-known organizations. SAS is used by insurance firms to detect fraudulent claims. SAS is used by retailers to locate profitable locations for shops and items within those stores. SAS is being used by an increasing number of financial institutions to identify money laundering, as mandated by the USA PATRIOT Act and Basel II. It's also used to detect fraud and assess credit applications. According to Goodnight, innovation is the key to success in this industry, and creativity feeds innovation. Because software is a mental product, SAS places a premium on creativity. As a result, every evening, 95 percent of my assets drive out the gate. It is my responsibility to establish a work atmosphere that encourages those individuals to return every morning. We have a competitive edge because of the innovation they bring to SAS. Goodnight, an outspoken advocate for educational reform, believes that education is important to the development of individuals, companies, and nations. Goodnight received his doctorate in statistics from North Carolina State University, where he taught from 1972 until 1976. Since then, his enthusiasm for learning has prompted him to establish many NCSU professorships to focus SAS' philanthropy on education. He co-founded Cary Academy, an independent college preparatory day school for children in grades six through twelve, with his wife, Ann, in 1996 with the objective of developing a model school for integrating technology into all aspects of teaching. Goodnight established SAS inSchool®, an educational software company that helps schools tackle the difficulties of the new millennium, just before Cary Academy debuted. The program provides the foundation for a new generation of teaching courseware that will expand the use of technology as a learning aid even further. SAS inSchool (now SAS® Curriculum Pathways®) wins accolades year after year for educational technology and, more significantly, student, teacher, and parent support. SAS' corporate headquarters, set on 300 forested acres that employees refer to as the campus, has a decidedly intellectual air. SAS' 11,000 workers are among the most devoted in the business. The software industry has a 20 percent annual turnover rate. It's around 4% at SAS. Goodnight has also spoken at the World Economic Forum, where business and world leaders debate cross-border problems such as international norms, laws, and global economic challenges. For his leadership of a company that has transformed the way Americans live, work, and interact, Harvard Business School designated him a Great American Business Leader. In recognition of Inc. magazine's 25th anniversary, he was also named one of America's 25 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs.

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