Mr. Kirk Paul Lafler

An American engineer, programmer, entrepreneur, consultant and founder of Software Intelligence Corporation, he is the author of four books including "PROC SQL: Beyond the Basics Using SAS" (SAS Institute. 2004). He is a successful entrepreneur with several business startup ventures, and is experienced in applications programming, database design, systems analysis, software testing, performance tuning, project management and software training. He has been programming using SAS software since 1979. He is a member of the SAS Community.org advisory board. He received a BS in Management Science Systems Analysis from the University of Miami in 1978, took part in Postgraduate Studies in Telecommunications Management at George Washington University in 1981, and received an MS in Management Science Systems Analysis from the University of Miami in 1982. He provides IT consulting services and training to SAS users worldwide and was an SAS Certified Professional and SAS Institute Alliance Member from 1996 to 2002. He has been involved with more than three hundred SAS International, regional, local, and special-interest user group conferences and meetings throughout North America. His popular SAS Tips column, "Kirk?s Korner of Quick and Simple Tips", appears regularly in several SAS User Group newsletters and Web sites, and his fun-filled SASword Puzzles is featured in SAScommunity.org. He has spearheaded the San Diego SAS Users Group; served as a contributing member of the California State Department of Education Legal Compliance Committee (LCC); Chairperson and President for the Southern California SAS Users Group (SoCalSUG); Public Relations Chairperson for the San Diego SAS Users Group (SANDSUG); Co-Chairperson for the Symposium on Applications Development, Data Analysis and Web-based Tools using the SAS System, and Co-Chair of the Advances in Bioinformatics and Genomics Symposium. He received Project Commendations and Awards from Electronic Data Systems and the Department of Energy, and has been awarded seventeen "Best Contributed Paper" awards at SAS User Group International (SUGI), Pharmaceutical SAS User Group, and Regional SAS User Group conferences.