Dr. Carlos Miller, age 89, was born February 19, 1923 in Jackson, Ohio to Marcella Leach Miller. He died on August 18, 2012 at IU Health Hospice House in Bloomington, Indiana following a severe stroke. He was raised by his mother and stepfather William Howard May. He is survived by his half sister Dorothy Basham of South Webster, Ohio, half brothers William Calvin May of Livonia, Michigan, and Jerry May of Westerly, Rhode Island. He was preceded in death by his brother Gerald Miller, whose wife Imogene survives, and half sister Joann Pettit.
Carlos attended Ohio State University where he received his undergraduate, Masters and PhD. His college education was interrupted from 1943 to 1946 while he served in the United States Army as a meteorologist. During the time of his military service, he took training at Denison University and Harvard University in the fields of mathematics, physics, electronics and meteorology.
After his military service he graduated cum laude from Ohio State in 1951 and following his graduation took a post-doctoral position in the laboratory of noted biologist Folke Skoog at the University of Wisconsin in Madison from 1951 to 1958.
During his time at the University of Wisconsin, he was the major contributor to the discovery, isolation, and identification of the plant growth hormone, Kinetin. Dr. Miller is known worldwide for his work in the field of plant growth and development.
In 1955, Dr. Miller was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Botany at Wisconsin and in 1957 accepted a position of assistant professor in the Department of Botany at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. He became associate professor in 1960 and attained the rank of full professor in 1963.
Dr. Miller was highly devoted to his research and continued his studies well beyond his retirement in 1987. He remained active in his research until the time of his death and went to his office, laboratory and greenhouse on an almost daily basis. He is highly regarded in his academic field as a research scholar and teacher His name appears on numerous academic papers and he is cited in many professional journals, textbooks and scholarly publications.
In 1999, Dr. Miller endowed and established The Carlos O. Miller Chair of Plant Growth and Development to help strengthen Indiana University’s efforts to build a research group with emphasis on the biochemistry of plant growth and development.
Dr. Miller will be missed by his many colleagues, friends, and family.