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William F. Miller

Honorary Degree Recipient

  • Doctor of Science, Purdue University 1972

Dr. Miller, a native of Vincennes, Indiana, received all of his higher education at Purdue, earning his B. S. degree in 1949, his M. S. in experimental physics in 1951, and his Ph. D. in theoretical physics in 1956. After serving as associate physicist at the Argonne National Laboratory for three years, he became Director of the Applied Mathematics Division in 1959. In this position he made significant contributions to the development of the computer and its applications at Argonne. At the same time he served as a lecturer at the University of Chicago, and in 1962-1963 took a leave of absence to come to Purdue as a visiting professor of mathematics.

Dr. Miller left Argonne in 1965 to assume a professorship in computer sciences at Stanford University. There he has served as Chairman of the Department of Computer Sciences, became Stanford's first Vice-president for Research, and in January 1971 was named Provost.

At Stanford, he not only served the university in improving its Computer Sciences Department. but also reorganized the Computation Center and university-wide computing services. In addition he was responsible for bringing into existence a new major computation center at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, one of our country's major National Laboratories dedicated to fundamental research.

Prior to entering Purdue as a freshman in 1946, Miller served three years in the United States Army, attaining the rank of second lieutenant. Since 1962 he has been a member of the Atomic Energy Commission1s advisory committee on mathematical and computer sciences research, and is the U. S. delegate to the study group for digital technology of the European Nuclear Energy Agency. He is a member of professional physics and mathematics societies.

by Earle C. Fowler, Head, Department of Physics, December 8, 1971

Last Updated: Apr 29, 2016 4:10 PM

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