Roger Miller Remembered

Colleagues recall Miller’s keen intellect, tireless work ethic, warmth and humility

BY LAURIE LOISEL

The year was 2013, and at 86, this was to be Roger Miller’s last dissertation committee, one of the hundreds he had served on during his more than three decades as a faculty member and adviser. He was asked by a medical social worker who was planning to research the near-death experiences of patients in intensive care to serve on her panel, remembers his longtime colleague Professor Kathryn Basham, M.S.W. ’90, Ph.D., LICSW.

“He was fascinated with the topic,” Basham recalled, but with his health failing, he would only agree to serve if she promised to cover for him if he died before the project was finished.

Miller did not die, but toward the end of the student’s dissertation process, he fell ill with a serious health issue that landed him in the hospital and off the grid for a time.

Once out of the hospital, he reached out to the student, informing her that he’d had, if not a near-death experience, something he described as a milder version of one. He told her he had chronicled his experience in writing.

“She was so stunned,” Basham said, “that he was thinking of her and her work and then took notes on it!”

Later, Basham and the student proposed celebrating the occasion, knowing it was Miller’s final committee. Miller was reluctant but finally allowed them to take him out for lunch.

“ ‘This is just what I do—it was a privilege for me to work with her,’” he told Basham later.

“His humility was remarkable,” she said.

The story is a prime example of who he was—a deep thinker, devoted to rigorous research and a passionate supporter of students making their mark as scholars and clinicians.

Miller died after a brief illness on December 14, 2018, a week before his

93rd birthday. SSW friends and former colleagues remember Miller for his outstanding stewardship, in equal measure, of clinical social work and scholarly research. They said he was a kind and caring colleague, and an adviser who held students to high standards, but worked with them tirelessly to support them in completing their dissertations and making a mark in the field.

“He was a brilliant theoretician and researcher who linked everything to direct clinical practice,” said Basham, who had been his student and then worked with him as a colleague.

“His focus on theory and thinking in research was palpable,” said Professor James Drisko, M.S.W. ’77, Ph.D., who met Miller in 1976 when he was a second year M.S.W. student at Smith, and then went on to become a colleague when he joined the faculty.

Miller, he said, pushed students to produce high-quality research that highlighted complex themes. “He made sure that research was well-respected in a program that was heavily clinical,” said Drisko.

Miller served as director of the School’s doctoral program from when it started in 1964 until 1993, and for many years, he was editor of Smith Studies in Social Work. In these roles he oversaw dissertations, nurtured quality research and influenced the careers of countless social workers.

“He felt the mission of the school was to train scholar-practitioners,” said Dean Emeritus Howard Parad. “It was not a new idea, but it was an idea that was mostly treated rhetorically.”

As dean, Parad recruited Miller to join the faculty in 1960 and then appointed him to be the founding

director of the School’s new doctoral program. And over the years, he said, Miller became a dear friend and stalwart colleague.

“Much of what I was able to accomplish was with the support and help of Roger Miller,” said Parad.

Other colleagues noted his dedication both to the School and the social work profession in general.

“He was very passionate about clinical social work. He really strongly believed in clinical social work and research that was based on practice,” said Professor Emerita Joyce Everett, M.S.W., Ph.D. “He believed that students should do research based on cases—that was the best reflection of reality.”

Everett, who served on numerous dissertation committees alongside

Miller, said she was also moved by his kindness.

“I thought it was really reflective of him to compliment the students’ work rather than critique it,” she said.

She said the fact that he ran the doctoral program on his own for nearly three decades was testament to his work ethic as well as to his standing in the social work field.

“He had tremendous influence over doctoral students and the direction they took after leaving Smith,” said Everett. “You’ve got to respect that.”

As serious as Miller was about clinical social work and theory, friends say he was equally warm and witty, an expressive storyteller who delighted in puns and absurd jokes

and loved making his students and colleagues laugh out loud.

He could be childlike in his enjoyment of life, according to Jonathan Parad, son of Howard Parad, who said the two families became close over the years and spent many hours together at a lake house in the summer.

“He knew how to play with kids of all ages,” said Jonathan Parad. “He had a joie de vivre—that was something people depended upon. Roger was not aloof. He was warm.”

Miller also had a knack for cracking jokes at just the right time during a faculty meeting, as when he deadpanned after a disagreement “all theories are wrong,” breaking the tension and bringing laughter to the room.

As devoted as he was to Smith, he was also a dedicated family man who nurtured many interests outside the college, including tennis, gardening, duplicate bridge and painting. He even took up sculpting later in life and delighted in showing visitors his work.

Over the years at Smith, Miller became known for hosting annual summer mint julep parties, begun one year when he had a glut of mint in his garden.

But they became tradition, said Basham, when Miller recognized that the gatherings provided an opportunity for students from all years and faculty to connect with each other in a relaxed atmosphere, building a sense of community. Just one more example of what Basham called Miller’s “generous spirit.”

A spirit that will be missed. ◆

Roger Miller, pictured here in 1972, was remembered by former students as a good and patient educator.

Roger Miller and Carol Hiller, M.S.S. ’61, are working on her research project, as photographed for the Smith Quarterly.