In Memorial
1952-2007 |
Long-time SAS instructor Tom Carter, 54, passed away Jan. 30
On Jan. 30, the Education Division at SAS lost one of its most beloved instructors when Tom Carter, 54, passed away from a sudden heart attack. Tom joined the division in 1992 and was one of Education's most well-known and respected instructors."Tom was an outstanding employee and member of the Education family," said Larry Stewart, Senior Director of Education. "Tom has contributed so much to SAS and the Education Division over the years that he will be impossible to replace. Even more importantly, he will be missed as a friend. We have lost a member of our family."
During his time with the division, Tom taught more than 700 courses and logged nearly 2,000 days in the classroom, that's an average of more than 135 days a year standing in front of the class instructing. Most impressive, though, is the estimated 13,000 SAS users that he touched during his 15 years of service.
Given his prolific teaching record, Stewart said it's comforting to know that most days Tom was doing what he loved, teaching. "While Tom excelled at so many things, both personally and professionally, teaching was his passion," said Stewart. "He was always most comfortable and happy helping people. Whether it was in a classroom setting, on-site, or one-on-one, helping customers solve their business problems and sharing his knowledge were Tom's favorite things to do."
Vice President of Education Herbert Kirk echoed those comments, saying that Tom was one of those top-performing employees whom you built a department, a division, even a company around. "More importantly," Kirk said, "he was the type of man that you could build a true friendship around."
Kirk said Tom was one of the most reliable and dedicated instructors he's had the pleasure of leading during his more than 30 year tenure as Vice President of Education. "The difficult teaching assignments or the off-the-wall requests, you know the one where the customer needs eight days of training in three, those always went to Tom," Kirk explained.
Ask Kirk for another example and he quickly recounts the large customer who, because their company headquarters were relocating, asked for an instructor to be on-site full time while they transferred all of their SAS applications. "Not only was the request for a six month commitment, but this company required fingerprinting, drug testing, and extensive background checks," recalled Kirk. "Of course, knowing how disruptive a short term relocation can be, not to mention all the other stuff, I was less than excited about asking my staff for volunteers. But lo and behold, minutes after the e-mail went out, here comes a note from Tom ... 'I can do it.' That was always Tom's response, he just never said no when it came to a request from a customer."
Kirk said Tom's keen business sense and mathematical mind, he held a bachelor's degree in mathematics and an M.B.A from Marshall University, made him the perfect instructor for SAS users. "Tom had a unique way of not only teaching the material, but relating it to the customer's business problems, regardless of their industry. He had an incredible learning curve that allowed him to understand the core components of a particular business and then bring real value to his students."
Stewart said Tom's outstanding teaching skills will not be the only thing he's remembered for within the division. "Tom had a great sense of humor to go along with his teaching and technical skills, which made him extremely popular in the classroom and a joy for us to work with."
Stewart recalled the year where Tom received two awards at the annual Education Division Kickoff Meeting: least decorated office and person with the most frequent flyer miles. "Tom happily accepted the gag gifts and joked about the cobwebs that covered his office door. The truth was he wasn't concerned with his office or his many trips, for Tom it was always about helping others, whether it was a customer or his colleagues."
Billie Parrish, Office Administrator for SAS Education and the one who scheduled Tom's many road trips, said she'll miss Tom's charm and sense of humor. She'll especially miss speaking to him on the phone every couple of days. "Years ago, Tom gave me a list of all the states he had not taught in and I always kept it on my bulletin board. Every time he would visit a state on the list, he'd stop by and we'd cross it off together. It was always a goal of his to make it to all of them before he retired. He only had nine to go. It's impossible to convey just how much he was loved around here."
To honor Tom, the Education Division will begin awarding an annual Tom Carter Teaching Award to be presented to the instructor who best exemplifies Tom's can-do attitude and prolific teaching during the course of a year. The first award will be presented at the division's year-end meeting next January.
Tom is survived by his parents and brother. A memorial service for Tom was held on Saturday, Feb. 3, and the corporate flag at SAS flew at half-staff for several days after his passing.