About Richard K. Miller

Early Life

I was born in Fresno, California and raised on a small farm (80-160 acres) in Tranquillity, California, the fourth generation of the Miller family to live and work there. Tranquillity is a very small unincorporated farming township in western Fresno County with a population of about 800. Three of my four grandparents were born and raised on farms in Oklahoma and migrated to California about 100 years ago. The fourth grandparent was born and raised on a dairy farm in Missouri before migrating to California in the late 1800s. I met my wife, Beth Parrish, when she was in the 6th grade and I was in the 7th grade in Tranquillity Elementary School. (We recently celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary.) I graduated from Tranquillity High School, as did my wife, brother, both of my parents, and all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins on the Miller side.

My grandfather—who had an 8th grade 

 education—led the Tranquillity Irrigation District which supplied irrigation water for all the farms in the township. He also chaired the School Board at the high school and his name is on the agricultural shop building. My father followed in his footsteps and took over leading the irrigation district when he passed away. Together, they led the District from the early 1920s through 1989, when my father retired.

In school I was interested in math and science, in building model airplanes and Heathkits (and other things), and in music—at one point considering a major in music in college. In addition to serving as the first trumpet in the marching band for three years, I became involved playing keyboards by ear in several rock bands in high school and college, at one point playing on stage with the “warm up band” for Janis Joplin (UC Davis, 1968).

Tranqulllity Irrigation District Office – where my grandfather and father worked from 1923 until 1989.

Education

B.S. Aerospace Engineering,
University of California, Davis, 1971 (With Highest Honors)

S.M. Mechanical Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1972

Ph.D. Applied Mechanics,
California Institute of Technology, 1976.

Academic Career

OLIN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

President Emeritus (2020 – present)

President and First Employee (1999 – 2020)

Professor of Mechanical Engineering (1999 – present)

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Jerome C. Hunsaker Visiting Professor of Aerospace Systems (2020-21)

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA.

Dean, College of Engineering and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (1992-99).

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Associate Dean of Engineering (Academic Affairs) (1989-92)

Professor of Civil Engineering and of Aerospace Engineering (1985-92)

Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and of Aerospace Engineering (1984-85)

Associate Professor and Administrative Officer of Civil Engineering (1982-84)

Associate Professor of Civil Engineering (1979-82)

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA

Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Environmental Engineering (1976-79)

Acting Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Environmental Engineering (1975)

Honors

American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Fellow,  (elected 2017)

National Academy of Engineering

Member, (elected 2012)

National Academy of Inventors

Fellow,  (elected 2014)

American Academy of Mechanics

Fellow,  (elected 2013)

Tau Beta Pi

Member, (elected as undergraduate)

Phi Kapa Phi

Member (elected as undergraduate),

Sigma Xi

Member (elected as graduate student)

Awards

2x Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education

National Academy of Engineering

1. Founding of Olin College (2013)
2. Founding of the Grand Challenges Scholars Program (2022)

Brock International Prize in Education

Brock Foundation (2017)

Donald E. Marlow Award

American Society for Engineering Education (2011)


Distinguished Alumni Award

California Institute of Technology (2014)

Legacy of Iowa Engineering Award,

College of Engineering, University of Iowa (2006)

Richard K. Miller Endowed Scholarship for Engineering Entrepreneurial Studies

College of Engineering, University of Iowa (1999)

Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award

College of Engineering,
University of California, Davis (2002)


TRW Excellence in Teaching Award

School of Engineering, University of Southern California (1987)

David M. Wilson Associates Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award in Civil Engineering

University of Southern California (1983)

David M. Wilson Associates Outstanding Civil Engineering Faculty Member Award

University of Southern California (1981)

Pi Tau Sigma Most Appreciated Faculty Member Award

Department of Mechanical and Environmental Engineering,
University of California, Santa Barbara (1980)

Outstanding Instructor Award

ASME Student Chapter, Department of Mechanical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara (1978)