Contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary’s College
(574) 284-4579
April 16, 2008 (Notre Dame, Ind.)— Saint Mary’s College Professor Donald Edward Miller, 67, Chair of the Mathematics Department, died Sunday, April 13, 2008 in his home with family by his side after a courageous battle with cancer. Miller taught mathematics at the College since 1967.
“Don was the consummate teacher,” said Mary Connolly, associate professor of mathematics. “His students would all say that he challenged them and led them to levels they never thought possible. Students were always his first priority, whether working with them in class, in the office, on the softball field or in developing new or enhanced programs of study. His enduring legacy will be the students whose lives he changed.”
While at Saint Mary’s, Miller chaired the Mathematics Department and published many books, including Gambling and Politics, and scholarly articles in the fields of math and statistics. He served as chair of the College’s Faculty Assembly and was an assistant softball coach. Miller also started an Advance Placement Institute at the College, which he led for several years. In 1992, he received the Spes Unica Award — the highest award a faculty member can receive at Saint Mary’s. He also served as the marshal at Commencement ceremonies for more than two decades.
“Don was the ideal College marshal,” said Commencement Committee Chair Susan Dampeer. “[The event] is consistently beautiful, dignified, and flawless because of his attention to detail. Don loved the ceremony and understood its significance in the lives of our students and their families. It is hard to imagine Commencement without him.” This year’s Commencement will take place on Saturday, May 17.
Miller was a member of several professional organizations, including the Mathematical Association of America, Pi Mu Epsilon, the Indiana Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, the Great Lakes Section of SIAM, The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Indiana Mathematics Educators, The American Statistical Association, The Mathematical Competition in Modeling, and The Actuarial Faculty Forum.
Miller was born on November 14, 1940, in Harrietsville, Ohio, to the late Ralph Edward Miller and to Gladys Irene (Bettinger) Miller, who survives. He married the former Gail Marie Goodridge in August 1962. Surviving are his loving wife, Gail; his mother, Gladys Miller of Caldwell, Ohio; two daughters, Cheryl (Vincent) Pryor of Orland Park, Illinois, and Laura A. Miller of South Bend; two sons, Kevin D. (Kathleen) Miller of Suzhou, China, and Douglas E. Miller of South Bend; two granddaughters, Katherine E. and Sarah M. Pryor of Orland Park, Illinois; his sister, Norma J. Hays of Cumberland, Ohio; and a brother, Ralph E. Miller of Caldwell, Ohio. He was preceded in death by his father, Ralph E. Miller, and by his sister, Joan Thomas.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 10 a.m. Thursday, April 17, in Little Flower Catholic Church, 54191 N. Ironwood, in South Bend, with Rev. Neil Ryan officiating. Friends may visit with the family from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. today in the church, where a prayer service will be held at 7 p.m., and one hour prior to services on Thursday. Burial will be at Saint Joseph Valley Memorial Park Cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to the Donald E. Miller Memorial fund at Saint Mary’s College, c/o Saint Mary’s College, Donor Relations Office, 110 LeMans Hall, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556. Welsheimer Family Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Family and friends may leave e-mail condolences at welshfh@yahoo.com.
