SAS co-founder, John Sall, in the early days of SASSAS co-founder, John Sall, in the early days of SASSAS co-founder, John Sall, in the early days of SASSAS co-founder, John Sall, in the early days of SASSAS co-founder, John Sall, in the early days of SASSAS co-founder, John Sall, in the early days of SASSAS co-founder, John Sall, in the early days of SASToday, July 1, is the 50-year anniversary of SAS Institute, the day we moved across Hillsborough Street into offices in the back building of Carter Williams Architects. We started with the four founders, plus Joyce Massengill, administrative assistant, and Ann Goodnight, publication sales. SAS has grown slowly but steadily over the years into a large, important company now. It has always been a great place to work.
As a founding employee, along with my manager, Jim Goodnight, we are celebrating our 50th anniversary of employment at SAS, though we worked on the SAS project before this when it was at NC State.
The original Building A, at SAS world headquarters, was located where The Umstead Hotel and Spa currently sit.The original Building A, at SAS world headquarters, was located where The Umstead Hotel and Spa currently sit.The original Building A, at SAS world headquarters, was located where The Umstead Hotel and Spa currently sit.The original Building A, at SAS world headquarters, was located where The Umstead Hotel and Spa currently sit.The original Building A, at SAS world headquarters, was located where The Umstead Hotel and Spa currently sit.The original Building A, at SAS world headquarters, was located where The Umstead Hotel and Spa currently sit.The original Building A, at SAS world headquarters, was located where The Umstead Hotel and Spa currently sit.
I have always held the VP title in R&D, but my job has varied significantly. My office moved from Hillborough Street to Building A in Cary, where the Umstead Hotel is now. Then my office moved from building A to building E, where I started the SAS-on-the-PC project; then to building J, where I started the JMP project; then to building R; then to building S; then to building T; and now to the new building A. I worked on many projects, including the Interactive Matrix Language. At SAS, I was head of the Applications Division, in contrast with the Host, Core, Graphics, and other R&D divisions. Then I started up the JMP project in 1988, which I still lead.
(L to R) Bill Gjertsen, John Sall, Jim Goodnight, and Tony Barr presenting about SAS in the 1970s.(L to R) Bill Gjertsen, John Sall, Jim Goodnight, and Tony Barr presenting about SAS in the 1970s.(L to R) Bill Gjertsen, John Sall, Jim Goodnight, and Tony Barr presenting about SAS in the 1970s.(L to R) Bill Gjertsen, John Sall, Jim Goodnight, and Tony Barr presenting about SAS in the 1970s.(L to R) Bill Gjertsen, John Sall, Jim Goodnight, and Tony Barr presenting about SAS in the 1970s.(L to R) Bill Gjertsen, John Sall, Jim Goodnight, and Tony Barr presenting about SAS in the 1970s.(L to R) Bill Gjertsen, John Sall, Jim Goodnight, and Tony Barr presenting about SAS in the 1970s.It has been an amazing 50 years, and no two days have been the same. I have much treasured all the people that I have worked with over all these years, and especially the people with JMP. I have no plans to retire so far. I have great confidence in JMP's continued bright future.
Read more about SAS' 50th anniversaries and corresponding celebrations in this InsideSAS article.
If you are on campus on July 1, don't miss free cupcakes in the cafes, and a throwback to some of our original and old favorite breakroom snack lineups, including chocolate Teddy Grahams, Better Cheddars, Fig Newtons, and more!
Congratulations on this amazing milestone, John! You inspire us every day with your tireless dedication - to your daily work improving our products, to JMP and SAS the companies, and to the people who work here. I was one of the many students introduced to JMP and SAS at NCSU with a stack of free CDs. Of course my academic research benefitted from that free access, like countless other students across the world do. But the connections I made to people working at JMP (as a local company with continued ties to NCSU) also helped bring me here. I know many of us have similar stories of connection and finding our place at JMP. I am forever grateful for this aspect of your journey as much as I am amazed by what JMP can do as a software product. Thank you for your continued vision and leadership as we celebrate this milestone!
I'm on my 30th year at JMP, and it has definitely been a wonderful ride. Of course it's great to see the product gain such a following with customers, and to see the amazing work that they do with JMP. The people I have worked with along the way have made it such an enjoyable place to work. Where has the time gone? It took 4 years to get Version 4.0 out the door, but it's been pretty steady since then. Thanks to all who have made the journey possible.
Today is also my anniversary – 28 years with SAS. And my favorites of those years have been right here with JMP, getting to work alongside the smartest, most dedicated, and caring people I’ve ever met. Together we’ve grown our business and created a culture that puts people at the center of everything we do. I’m so glad I joined SAS all those years ago, but I’m even happier that, in a leap of faith, I joined John Sall and Jon Weisz some 20 years ago right here in JMP.
John, We deeply appreciate you and what you and Jim have built. I love JMP the software and the company and like so many of my colleagues, I'm deeply proud of what we are doing for Statistics as a discipline and a profession, for our customers, and for everyone we serve. At JMP, helping others is a natural fit, and those around me have given me so much in return. Here's to many more years of continued growth and success.
Yesterday was my official 20th anniversary at JMP but i was first introduced in version 2 and later in 1995 or so version 3.1.6 (first Windows version?) given the responsibility to manage a book project, JMP Start Statistics and the accompanying JMP-IN software at my previous employer. JMP was a game changer for educators then and remains the software of choice for modern statistics instruction and learning today with 175,000 active Student Edition users and growing. So grateful for what you and team have created John and for the culture and people we get to work with everyday. Congratulations on 50 years of SAS and looking forward to our continued growth.
I celebrate 20 years next May! What a wonderful company, product, and culture you have built! We love you, John!
