Obituary: SPSS co-founder Norman Nie

Political scientist Norman Nie, the co-founder of both SPSS and Knowledge Networks, died peacefully last Thursday after a long battle with cancer. He was 72 years old.

Born in St Louis, Missouri in 1943, Nie dropped out of school to go to Mexico, where during his teens, he became a published writer of fiction. He was then educated at the University of the Americas in Mexico City, and Washington University in St Louis. Later, while studying for a PhD in Political Science at Stanford University, he had to analyze thousands of political surveys conducted among residents of seven different countries. To meet the needs of his dissertation, alongside fellow students Dale Bent and 'Tex' Hull, Nie helped develop a software package to automate the analysis of different types of quantitative data.

This software was named SPSS - an acronym for Statistical Package for the Social Sciences - and in 1975, after Nie graduated, he and Hull went on to set up a separate company. Nie served as the company's CEO between 1975 and 1992, and he then continued as Chairman of the Board and Software Design Consultant until 2008. In late 2009, SPSS settled a trademark case with Nie over use of its company name. According to reports, back in 2007, SPSS asked Nie and Hull to transfer ownership of the trademark to the business, offering a nominal $10 for the name. Nie and Hull are then said to have asked for around $20m, at which point, SPSS filed a lawsuit to stop them from enforcing any rights under the license agreement. Following settlement of the trademark case, IBM acquired SPSS for $1.2 billion.

While at SPSS, Nie simultaneously produced academic research relating to US political behavior and public opinion. He spent 30 years at the University of Chicago, during which time, he co-authored four books on political science - Participation in America, The Changing American Voter, Participation and Political Equality, and Education and Democratic Citizenship in America. In 1998, he moved to Stanford University, where he served as Research Professor in the Department of Political Science, and Director of the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society. During this period, he co-authored a book on the politics of the 2000 US Census enumeration called The Hard Count, and wrote numerous research articles. Over his academic career, he twice won the annual Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award for the best book published on political science.

In 1998, while at Stanford, Nie co-founded Internet survey research firm Knowledge Networks with fellow researcher Douglas Rivers, and it was later acquired by GfK in 2011. In 2009, Nie also took on the role of CEO of statistical computing language specialist REvolution Computing (now also owned by IBM).

Among his many honors, in 2006, Nie received the AAPOR (American Association of Public Opinion Research) award for exceptionally distinguished achievement in public opinion research, and a year later, he received a lifetime achievement award from AAPOR for his contributions to survey analytics as well as his work in political behavior. Later, he was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Nie also served as Chairman or Board member for a number of technology firms, including enterprise feedback management software business - CustomerSat (<15974 by Confirmit) Vicinity, Lexiquest, and Captura. He also founded and served as CEO of private airplane charter business Sun Valley Air Club.

Former SPSS colleague ViAnn Beadle said of Nie: 'I have known Norman since 1969 when I was a graduate student in Political Science at the University of Chicago. Norman gave me my first real job in 1972, and my life would not be what it is without his mentorship, encouragement, and support. Norman was first and foremost, a talented and respected political scientist and probably more proud of his contributions to political science than SPSS. There would be no SPSS without Norman and all former and current SPSSers who knew him, miss him today.'

Nie is survived by his wife Carol, daughters Anne and Lara, and granddaughters Sophia and Helena. A private burial will be held in St. Louis, and a public memorial is planned for the coming months. In lieu of flowers, his family requests contributions are made to: Hospice and Palliative Care of the Wood River Valley in Ketchum, Idaho.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.