Lynn Miller Papers

Lynn Miller (1932-2018), professor emeritus of biology, was born on November 6, 1932 in McCook, Nebraska. He was the 5th child of Dale Miller and Edythe Alice Rupp Miller Oveson. In 1935 after the Republican River flooded, the family relocated to Greeley Colorado. Miller and his siblings matriculated through the Greely public school system, while his parents worked as dairy farmers and creamery operators. After graduating from Greeley Central High School in 1949, Miller attended University of Colorado for 2 1/12 years and was accepted into the University of Colorado Medical School, but did not matriculate. He then went on to receive his B.S. with Honors from San Francisco State College in 1957, and a PhD in Biology from Stanford in 1962. Miller also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Washington in Genetics in 1965.

Miller was a founding faculty member of Hampshire College and was fundamental in establishing the School of Natural Science. He was a deeply devoted teacher who encouraged students to create projects based on their own questions His approach to teaching reflected the very essence of Hampshire’s pedogeological visions and he was a well-loved lifelong mentor to many. Miller focused on groundbreaking work in genetics (human and microbial), molecular biology, and evolution. Some of his most prominent lab research is on the evolution of Nitrogen fixation in the bacteria called Frankia. Miller was also interested in horticulture and aside from his pivotal role as professor at Hampshire, he also bred daylilies. Miller was married to Jean Douglass (who goes by Jean Miller) from 1957 until his passing in 2018. They have two sons and two adopted children.