Paul Miller, president of RIT from 1969 to 1979, has died. He was 98 years old.
Miller, RIT’s sixth president, is credited with overseeing the move of the campus from downtown Rochester to Henrietta, as well as adding several new academic programs to the curriculum. He also introduced a new balanced budgeting procedure, a method for forecasting student enrollment, and implemented co-ed residence halls.
“Paul Miller was a true visionary who was able to skillfully manage the transition of RIT from the bustling center of downtown Rochester to the sprawling suburban Henrietta campus,” said RIT President Bill Destler. “This was a monumental undertaking, but the robust success of RIT today is without a doubt due to the steadfast leadership and tenacity of President Miller. The RIT community shall forever be indebted to him for imagining all that was possible for our students, faculty and staff, and having the courage to be confident and adventurous in his decision making.”
Miller was asked to oversee the development of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at RIT and assume the role of official liaison between the university and the federal government.
In 1969 he was selected as president of RIT.
Miller left the presidency in 1979, but continued to serve at RIT as a professor emeritus. Following his retirement from RIT, he served as an adjunct professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia prior to moving to Montrose, Colo., in 2011.
A private memorial service will be held at a later date.
