William C. Miller, Ph.D.

 

Bill Miller returned to his alma mater as Academic Dean in 1997 after having served as Associate Provost for Research and Economic Development at West Virginia University. There he was responsible for providing institution-wide leadership for the university's research program, and for developing and guiding the university's contribution to economic development throughout the state. In addition, he was a member of the university's teaching faculty. At the same time Dean Miller served as Executive Director and Vice Chairman of the Board for the West Virginia University Research Corporation, a private non-profit corporation chartered to support and foster the research mission at the university. He also served on the Board of Jobs Investment Trust, a legislatively chartered venture capital firm investing in start-up companies in West Virginia, and as Chair of the Avionics and Communications panel of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board.

At West Virginia University Dr. Miller co-founded the Benedum Center for Education Reform and the Institute for Software Research. The former became a key contributor in the University’s complete restructuring of its teacher education programs for primary and secondary school teachers, the largest such programs in the state. The latter formed an innovative partnership between the University and leading edge software research companies being established in the northern part of West Virginia with the goal of stimulating growth of the software industry in the state. Dr. Miller also served as principal author of West Virginia University's strategic vision, Challenges for a New Century, and led a university-wide task force addressing integration of teaching and research across the curriculum. During his tenure the university achieved record performance in competitively awarded research and other sponsored programs.

Before his arrival at West Virginia in 1993, Dr. Miller served in a variety of assignments in the U.S. Navy, the most prominent of which were in the areas of research and development. From 1990 to 1993, then Rear Admiral Miller served as the Chief of Naval Research in Washington DC, and chief executive of the Office of Naval Research. There he was responsible for the Department of the Navy’s $1.5 billion annual investment in science and technology through universities, industry and government laboratories. Dr. Miller's other significant naval assignments included serving as chief executive of the Navy's corporate laboratory, the Naval Research Laboratory; founding director of both the Navy's low observables (stealth) technology office and the DOD counter low observables office; captain of two naval vessels; and service on the electrical engineering faculty and as executive assistant to the Superintendent at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Dr. Miller is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, and earned his masters and doctor of philosophy degrees, both in Electrical Engineering, at Stanford University. He is married and has five children, all of whom have now graduated from college and begun careers of their own.