July 15, 1999
The gifts to the Kansas University Endowment Association came from the late educator June B. Miller of Olathe, who contributed about $50,000 plus an estate gift; and from alumni, faculty and friends of Miller who contributed the rest in her memory.
The contributions are for two funds. Miller anonymously established one fund in 1992 for scholarships for graduate students in hearing and speech. The second fund is the new June B. Miller 50th Anniversary Scholarship Fund, which honors her service as the long-time chair of the Hearing and Speech Department. The gifts also mark the 50th anniversary of the department.
"Not only was June Miller a pioneer in academics, but she also laid the foundation for our current endowment," Ferraro said. "These funds have been instrumental to the success of our programs."
Rosemary G. Schrepfer, M.D., a good friend and associate of Miller, said that Miller started a scholarship fund many years ago because she was so concerned with helping students.
"She really wanted the June B. Miller fund to be set up so students who were worthy and who needed help would have some scholarship assistance, and she felt very strongly about this."
Schrepfer said that she and Miller hoped that contributions to the scholarship fund will reach $100,000 so that each recipient can receive a substantial scholarship stipend.
Miller is credited with helping to lay the foundation for the current KU degree programs in deaf education, and also the graduate programs at the KU Medical Center and Lawrence campus in audiology and speech-language pathology. U.S. News and World Report has ranked these graduate programs among the top ten in the country for public and private institutions.
Miller was born in 1917 in Olathe. She attended KU and later received her bachelor's degree from Washington University. She received a master's degree in 1948 and a doctorate in 1958 from Columbia University. She worked as a teacher of the deaf and for handicapped children in the Kansas City, Mo., public school district, and the Lexington School for the Deaf in New York.
After serving as assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma Medical School from 1948-49, Miller came to the KU Medical Center, where she was a faculty member in the Department of Hearing and Speech at the KU Medical Center and School of Education. She served as chair of the Department of Hearing and Speech for 34 years and was the Carolyn Doughty/Margaret Kemp distinguished professor.
A board member and president of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf Inc., Miller also was an officer and board member of many other organizations, including the Academy of Rehabilitation Audiology, the Council on Education of the Deaf, and the American Board of Examiners in Speech Pathology and Audiology.
Miller also consulted with the White House Conference on Children and Youth, the U.S. Office of Education and various school systems, international organizations and hospitals. She also worked as a consultant with many colleges and universities, including Gallaudet College. She published or presented at conferences more than 100 papers.
Miller was awarded many high honors, including a fellowship by the American Speech and Hearing Association. She was cited in five different Who's Who and many other directories.
Outside of her work, Miller loved birds and the outdoors and especially horses. She rode in the American Royal often and drove a surrey in parades.
Miller died in October at her home.
The gifts will be administered by the KU Endowment Association, an independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fund-management foundation for the University of Kansas. Founded in 1891, the KU Endowment Association is the oldest foundation of its type at a public university in the United States and one of the largest.