ALFRED - Dr. Marlin Miller, Jr., ‘54 a visionary businessman
and Alfred University’s most-generous donor, will deliver the address at
Alfred University’s commencement
ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 18, in the Galanis Family Arena, McLane
Center, on the Alfred University campus.
The University will
award Miller, who received a Doctor of Science degree, honoris causa, in 1989,
a second honorary degree, the Doctor of Arts, during the ceremony.
“We asked Marlin
Miller to deliver our commencement address this year because he is among the
most remarkable people ever to be associated with Alfred University,” said
President Mark Zupan. “He was a ceramic
engineering major who was introduced to the arts by his first wife, the late
Marcianne Mapel Miller ’54. She was an artist who also did theater, and
Marcianne’s passions became Marlin’s too. Most of his significant gifts to the
University have been in support of Performing Arts and the School of Art and
Design, thus the decision to award him a second honorary degree, this one in
the arts.”
Another reason is Miller’s leadership, Zupan noted. A member
of the Board of Trustees since 1972, Miller served a six-year term as chairman,
from 1983-89, and helped to launch the University’s first major fund-raising
campaign, which led to the renovation of Alumni Hall, built in 1851 and the
University’s oldest building. He’s worked with six of the University’s 14
presidents, from Leland Miles, who was president when Miller joined the board,
through Zupan, who took office in July 2016.
He has served on every major committee of the Board, and is
a long-standing member of its Executive Committee and its Strategic Planning
Committee. “Marlin Miller has been involved in every major decision made by the
Board of Trustees for nearly 50 years,” Zupan said.
Part of his impact is his philanthropy, which has resulted
in nearly $75 million in gifts to the University. With his gifts, Miller has
built three new buildings – the Miller Performing Arts Center, Miller Theater
and the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum -- and contributed to the construction or
renovation of others, including Alumni Hall, the Saxon Inn, Kanakadea Hall, and
Tefft Residence Hall, as well as the link that will connect Tefft and Moskowitz
halls. He has made a challenge grant that he hopes will encourage others to
also invest in residence hall renovations.
Miller has endowed several scholarships; each year, about 35
students benefit from a scholarship fund he has created, some in his own name
and others in honor of friends and fellow trustees.
Giving in honor of others is one hallmark of Miller’s
philanthropy. One of his first major
gifts was the Gertz Chair in memory of Fred Gertz, former professor of
technical writing and dean of students, who was one of Miller’s mentors.
Another gift created the Robert Turner Professorship in Ceramic Art and the
Theodore Randall International Chair in Art, the first two endowed positions in
the School of Art and Design at Alfred University. In honor of his lifelong
friendship with Wayne Higby, the director of the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum,
Miller endowed the directorship in his name.
“Through our strategic
planning process, we identified improved residence halls as a need for the
University,” Zupan noted. Miller made a gift to renovate Tefft Residence Hall,
in honor of Phillip Tefft ’38, who was chairman of the Board of Trustees when
Miller joined the board. Miller has often credited Tefft with teaching him what
it is to be a philanthropist. Miller has subsequently made two additional gifts
to support residence hall renovations.
“I can enumerate the
major gifts Marlin has made to the University, but what only a handful of us
remember is that Marlin is quick to write a check when he sees other needs at
the University, not just the ‘big stuff,’” Zupan noted.
“But beyond his
leadership, beyond his generosity, there are dozens of Alfred University
faculty, staff and alumni, who are proud to call Marlin Miller a friend,” said
Zupan.
