This is one of the coolest uses of SAS I've seen: optimizing school reassignments. I spoke with paper coauthor Rob Pratt before SAS Global Forum this year about this topic. I found the project's origin interesting: CEO Jim Goodnight was chatting with the Wake County Schools superintendant at a cocktail party about the thorny problem of school redistricting, and Dr. Goodnight said something like, "Hey, I think we can help solve this problem using our SAS/OR software. We'll give it a go for you."

Rob and his coauthors took part in this recent podcast on the topic.

The podcast gets a bit technical in the realm of OR. But it highlights a fascinating use of analytics to solve a problem that directly affects the lives of thousands of families.