It is with great sadness that we report the passing of our longtime friend and colleague, Dr. Eugene F. Miller, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Georgia, who taught in the department of political science with great distinction from 1967 until his retirement in 2003. He died on May 30, 2010, following a two-year battle with multiple myeloma.
He was born in Atlanta on October 1, 1935, and received an undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1957. While at Emory, he received a Danforth Graduate Fellowship, which supported his Ph.D. studies at the University of Chicago. At Chicago, he was affiliated with the Committee on Social Thought and wrote his dissertation under the direction of the Nobel laureate Friedrich A. Hayek. He also studied with Leo Strauss, who deeply influenced his thinking and research. He completed his doctorate in 1965. Gene taught at Davidson College (1962–63) and Furman University (1963–67) before moving to the University of Georgia.
Gene was an accomplished scholar who brought a probing and deep intelligence to his research, whether it involved the exploration of fundamental issues in the philosophy of social science in an article that was the focus of a symposium in the American Political Science Review, or a historical investigation leading to a learned and definitive edition of major writings by David Hume. His love of scholarship held to the end: very shortly before his death he completed a book on Hayek's The Constitution of Liberty, which will soon be published by the Institute of Economic Affairs, a British free-market think tank. In a sense, his academic life came full circle.
An extraordinarily gifted, respected, and award-winning teacher, Gene was able to bring out the best efforts of his students in part because he insisted on excellence, in part because his caring and attentive manner made disappointing the instructor unthinkable in his classes.
As the department's graduate coordinator, Gene revolutionized the program. This required a tenacious political will and calm persistence, but also long hours: colleagues could not help but notice him working in his office, no matter how late they themselves left the political science building. More broadly, for decades, Gene was active in the programs of the Liberty Fund, helping to organize stellar conferences around the country.
Finally, it would be difficult to overstate Gene's warmth, generosity, good humor, and, in his last years, grace in the face of death. With all his intelligence and insight, he never felt the need to convince others of his abilities. He was a key mentor to one of us, despite profound philosophical differences. It never occurred to him that these differences were relevant to how he should treat a colleague or fellow human being. We have written this memorial, then, not simply to note Gene's professional accomplishments, but as an expression of gratitude.
