We are proud to announce that this year's Keynote Address will be given by Mr. Robert Cross, Director of Version 7 Architecture at SAS Institute . Robert's talk, "What's In / What's Out", will discuss the process that goes into determining the contents of releases of the SAS System. With Version 7 of the SAS System coming closer to market, this should prove to be a timely and informative kick-off to the conference.
Robert Cross is a Research and Development Strategist, Director of the Advanced Technology Division, and Principal System Architect for SAS Institute Inc. Robert has been with the Institute since 1979. As Principal System Architect and member of the Institute's Strategy Committee, Robert is responsible for setting technology directions and coordinating research and development for the SAS System. As Director of the Systems Division in the early 1980's, Robert was responsible for the design and delivery of the SAS System mainframe releases 79.3 through 82.4, with personal responsibility for the SAS system supervisor and the Data Step. Robert contributed to the design and development of releases 4 and 5 and then, as Director of the Core Division, assumed primary responsibility for the design and delivery of the SAS System for PC DOS releases 6.01 through 6.04. As Principal System Architect, Robert was designer of the Institute's MultiVendor Architecture (MVA), led development of releases 6.06 through 6.12, and has primary responsibility for the design and development of Version 7 of the SAS System. A graduate of the University of North Carolina, Robert holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics.