Statistics Students Blossom at NC State

North Carolina State University is growing yet another bumper crop of great undergraduate and graduate statistics students. The initiation banquet for their Alpha Chapter of Mu Sigma Rho the national Honor Society for Statistics) was held on Thursday April 8, 2010 at the Talley Student Center. Eight new undergraduate members and thirty seven new graduate members were inducted into the Mu Sigma Rho Honor Society.

Following some ice-breaker puzzles for each table (organized by Chapter President, Charles Smith), prizes, and a nice dinner, John Sall, Co-Founder and Executive VP of SAS Institute, provided a picturesque history of the origins and development of SAS Institute from its initial six employees to its current 11,000 plus employees and being voted Fortune magazine’s Number 1 place to work in the USA. He also demonstrated how to solve an optimization problem using JMP. Sall was made an honorary member of the NCSU Chapter. In his closing remarks, Sastry Pantula congratulated the new inductees, wished them successes similar to that of SAS, and reminded everyone to vote in the ASA elections and to complete the Census forms. Stu Hunter, a past ASA President and a distinguished alum of NC State, also participated in the ceremonies.