William Miller, Stanford’s provost from 1971 to 1979, built a remarkable career as an architect of the modern management of Stanford and an early champion of collaboration between the university and Silicon Valley.
He mined the intersections between disciplines for possibility, both as a mathematician and physicist moving into computer science and as an academic reaching out to venture capital. As an administrator, he recognized the importance of a strong team and conveyed a sense of calm, reasonable authority to everyone he dealt with—from students protesting the Vietnam War to scientists in emerging fields to leaders in Asia and Russia.
William F. Miller died in Cupertino on September 27. He was 91.
Miller grew up on a modest farm in Indiana. His mother was a classics professor, and he spent high school immersed in literature. When he arrived at Purdue University, he needed to take remedial math. But he went on to earn a PhD in physics, gaining expertise in mathematical modeling he would later introduce to the Stanford administration.
His military training as a field artillery officer and his experience in Germany after World War II as “a 19-year-old sheriff” left him with an appreciation of soft power. He found himself in charge of Argonne National Laboratory at age 31, after the unexpected death of his predecessor, with a mission to produce a strategic plan for the Atomic Energy Commission in two weeks. He learned to swiftly seek out information and solicit input from all concerned.
Miller was recruited to Stanford by provost Fred Terman. He developed computation at SLAC and helped found the computer science department, where he instituted the first cross-fertilization meetings among faculty, graduate students and Silicon Valley companies. “He knew how to judge technology,” says Edward Feigenbaum, a professor emeritus of computer science. “He knew what it meant to deal with big corporations.”
Miller was tapped as associate provost of computing in 1968, as computer systems were introduced throughout the university, and then as Stanford’s first vice president of research. “He saw new trends emerging and what his role could be,” says former president John Hennessy, now the director of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program. “He arrived at a cusp, a turning point, for Stanford.” Spending was out of whack after the Vietnam War, and as provost, Miller managed to institute a round of deep cuts with a minimum of faculty protest. But by the end of the Miller era, with government money flowing and a fund-raising campaign bringing in $300 million, the university began to grow significantly.
Looking back, Miller noted wryly how he had a habit of being “repotted,” reinventing himself every decade. In 1979, he stepped down as provost and was appointed Herbert Hoover Professor of Public and Private Management at the Business School, teaching a seminal course on technology management. He turned down offers to head several universities, choosing instead to lead the independent Stanford Research Institute from 1979 until 1990.
Hennessy says Miller played a critical role in the ascension of Silicon Valley. “Had it not had a strong supporter in that generation, it wouldn’t have been able to grow,” he says. Miller founded four start-ups, advised governments and businesses throughout the world on technology transfer, and was an angel investor for a score of companies, some founded by his students.
Miller is survived by his son, Rodney. His wife of 58 years, Patty, died in 2008.
Vicky Elliott is a journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
