Ask HN: Is the ability to program required for a good system administrator?

I'm a programmer, not a system administrator. I see sys admins using GUIs all day long. In my heart I think this is the wrong way. My programmer side says "automate all the things!" But the sys admins aren't programmers and do not know, or wish to know, how to program. They are happy with GUIs.

So my question is: is the ability to program a prerequisite for good system administrators?

To put it another way: would you hire a sys admin that did not know, or want to know, how to program?