Personal about Rick from Woody:

One of the important signs of how much I miss my dear friend Rick is the way that I have stared at this document (or rather a blank page where this document is now forming) for most of the past year. What can I write to memorialize a dear friend who is also such an important mentor in my professional life and beyond?

As RMPA approaches this year, I keep expecting my phone to ring with Rick on the other end of it. I keep expecting to discuss plans with him, to hear his distinctive verbal phrasing and encouragement to be creative as we consider options for RMPA. I keep expecting to have him on the phone where we can discuss unique approaches to RMPA planning that have not yet been tried or that should be resurrected after many years. Even if we seemed to talk only about RMPA, I know Rick would also be reassuring and supportive of me broadly as we prepared. 

As noted at his memorial in Texas, many of us have become family through so many years and are grateful for the life changing experiences with Rick and Jeanne. As Emily and Tyler talked about formative experiences that led to them becoming children in this extended family, I considered my own history. Emily and Tyler both integrated into the family as undergraduates and know that they are children of Rick and Jeanne. I met Rick and Jeanne almost 30 years ago, and Rick and I started working closely together about 20 years ago, years after I had completed my Ph.D. In this complex family structure, I believe that this makes me a nephew, and I am grateful to be connected in these ways.

I have worked with Rick in many roles, at RMPA of course and also in STP and elsewhere. In these roles, we have co-edited three books, co-authored three invited chapters, co-presented several times, and co-organized many presentations, symposia, and related activities. I believe that I have the honor of serving as Rick’s co-author for what may be his final publication, during which, as he and I discussed, I had a great time. These are just the formal mentions of Rick on my CV.

Most of our activities together, including those that I view as most important for the field, these organizations, and my own history, are not visible on my CV. My CV does not capture the conversations about teaching, mentoring, and advising, the discussions about how to best support colleagues, or our historical and scientific discussions about psychological science. My CV does not include the discussions about creative ways to bring HS teachers into RMPA and STP. My CV cannot describe Rick’s support for me as I moved into the Teaching Conference Coordinator role at RMPA, as he encouraged me to serve in the lead co-editor role for one of our three co-edited books, or as I stepped into multiple STP roles. My CV also does not capture the times that I called him for advice and support for issues outside of our formal collaborations. When my own department was in difficult times, I reached out to Rick for advice and encouragement. His support and mentorship transcend what I can write. My CV can never capture the degree to which Rick has shaped my career and my life.

Many of our most important conversations extended through as well as outside academia. I remain grateful for Rick’s experiences and his willingness to speak directly about difficult issues. Even as we discussed scientifically or personally challenging topics, his focus with me, as with so many others, is always on the learner and on how to support those around him. I will always be grateful for his modeling about how to approach the world broadly as well as his words and ideas in our specific conversations.

His influence and our conversation about issues outside of academia included his health. I had different health issues emerge at the same time. My health issues were also unexpected and overwhelming, even though mine did not involve cancer. There is a photo of us at RMPA not long after Rick’s diagnosis and almost a year after my issues started. This photo was on a table at the memorial, and it is also on this website and the RMPA website. As I look at the two of us in this photo, we look very different than we usually do or than we had at any other time in the decades we have known each other. Rick and I both earned a reputation for moving quickly and efficiently through conventions and elsewhere in the world, including in the wilderness, on building projects, and in kitchens. (Essentially, if someone wanted to keep up with Rick as Rick walked through RMPA, that person had to bring their aerobic A-game to walk that fast while discussing issues that important.) In this photo, at RMPA 2022, we both look grey. I had seen this photo prior to the memorial, but not until the memorial did I really see how rough we both looked at that time. (For example, at the memorial was the first time I realized that in the photo I am leaning on a table for support.) As Tyler wrote in Rick’s ToP obituary, Rick’s general vigor and his enthusiastic and active (i.e., fast-moving) support for students, teaching, scholarship, and these organizations was always evident. These changes (for both of us) were overwhelming. And, in the midst of these concerns, we talked about foundations. Both of us talked about the ways these changes affected our families. Although I have shared more with Jeanne privately, I’ll note here that we anchored our conversations about our own health to those whom we loved. Rick was a model and mentor in these contexts as well.

I am also grateful that Rick shared his cancer news with me with an email signed Uncle Rick. This willingness to transcend academia and forge human connections continues to shape my life. 

I will conclude this personal note with the words I sent Rick when he stepped down from the Dept Chair role at UNKearney. Even though I wrote this 14 years ago, everything here remains true.

Woody


Rick,

I am honored to be able to contribute today, even if I cannot be there in person. Although you do not remember these events, I still recall my first interactions with you when I was a young graduate student at RMPA in the 1990s. I was impressed and even amazed to watch you engagingly present scientific work and then smoothly make the transition to present the follies with Mitch Handelsman. I was not the only new graduate student who was impressed. In the late 1990s, there were even conversations between Britt Mace and myself about how, if we were extremely dedicated and fortunate, we could strive to become Rick Miller and Mitch Handelsman over the next few decades. We are still working on this.

Your presence at RMPA was only my first introduction. I have since been able to see your handprints across many areas of psychology, and particularly among teachers of psychology. Learning to see your influence has taken me so long, in part, because of your modesty even in the midst of your success. Your public effects on psychology are well-known, and these public endeavors obscure the extent of your true impact. I know that in my own career I would not be where I am as a teacher of psychology and as a scholar of the teaching of psychology without your influence. I am aware of some, but probably not all, of the behind the scenes influences you have had on my own career, and I know that I am not alone. You consistently reach outside of your own department to encourage and guide other faculty, even in the absence of tangible rewards, and your willingness to share opportunities extends far beyond your own department and affects many of us as individuals as well as the field of psychology as a whole.

Thank you very much for being the mentor you are to so many of us. In addition to being THE most audience-sensitive teacher and presenter I have ever seen, your larger impacts on psychology in Nebraska, the Rocky Mountain region, and throughout the field are incalculable. Thank you for sharing the road as you lead the way.

Woody

Professional about Rick from Woody:

In this document, I follow the lead of Emily Balcetis. Below are some sections from my letters in support of Rick through the past several years. I have written for him for the STP Mentorship of Teachers award, the Harry Kirke Wolf award from APA, the RMPA Faculty Mentor Award, the SPSP Mentor Award, the Javelina Distinguished Service Award, and others. Please see his CV. This impressive list is just a short sampling of his recognitions and honors.

Below are some highlights. In the materials that follow, I’ll provide some framing around these sections. Each of these professional writing opportunities was an important honor for me. The hardest part of these writing projects in support of Rick was to keep my letter within three pages.

For any letter, I always opened with a variation on the statement below. This is from my letter for the STP Mentorship of Teachers Award.

After two and a half decades of mentorship and collaboration, I consider Professor Miller a friend, and I respect his integrity as a friend as well as a mentor, teacher, scholar, and service provider. Professor Miller and I have collaborated in several areas (e.g., in our service at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association [RMPA], as co-editors of an open educational resource in the history of psychology, as co-editors of compendia of convention abstracts, in our service to e-books program and elsewhere the Society for the Teaching of Psychology). Despite our friendship, as a mentee and collaborator I am in a uniquely strong position to evaluate Professor Miller’s legacy as a mentor of teachers of psychology.


Below are several professional statements about Rick. Each is very well-earned. 

The following is from my letter in support of Rick for the STP Mentorship of Teachers Award.

There is another reason I bring this much enthusiasm to my opportunity to write in support of Professor Miller for this award. I served STP as Chair of Awards 2009-2012.As many know, this is a demanding role, and during my time as Chair I transitioned the Awards from paper to online processes. Despite the requirements of this role, I sought to conclude my time with a proposal for a new STP award: a faculty mentorship award. When I discussed these plans with members of the STP Executive Committee, they reassured me that meetings were already underway to develop this award, and I am very pleased they have done so. This series of events, however, derailed my initial plans to propose not just a mentorship award but the Richard L. Miller Teacher Mentorship Award. Simply stated, a decade ago I planned to name the proposed award for the individual I view as the most prominent mentor of teachers in STP.


In any letter about Rick, it was very difficult to review his accomplishments, even in one area, while staying within three pages. It was very hard to focus on just one area of success. Typically, I had to include a paragraph such as the following.

I could expand this letter to review Professor Miller's extensive publication record and his stellar classroom teaching accomplishments (including such legendary recognitions as the Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award, the Robert S. Daniel Teaching Excellence Award, and recognition as a CASE/Carnegie Foundation U.S. Professor of the Year, among many, many others). I could also address his exemplary service to the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (including his service as President), his department at Texas A&M Kingsville, his prior department at the University of Nebraska, Kearney, the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, and various regional, national, and international departments, universities, and scientific and service organizations. Rather than attempt to review Professor Miller’s larger accomplishments in their entirety, in this letter I focus on Professor Miller’s outstanding mentorship of teachers.


Here is a concise (or as concise as possible) review of Rick’s impacts as a mentor of teachers of psychology.

Mentorship of teachers runs throughout Professor Miller’s career. During his time as Chair at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, he established a faculty mentorship program that succeeded in its primary goal: supporting qualified teacher-scholars in their journey from hiring to tenure. Although he created and ran this program years ago, his values continue to inspire. He was clear that the success of the program was evident because every person hired in a tenure-track role earned tenure. Rather than see a high rejection rate as evidence of success, Professor Miller viewed success of the program as identical with the success of emerging teacher-scholars mentored by himself and others. These values run consistently through Professor Miller’s mentorship of teachers in these and other contexts.

A prominent avenue by which Professor Miller has mentored teachers is RMPA. Professor Miller has contributed more than three decades of time and expertise to service on the Executive Committee of RMPA, serving as Program Chair, President (including a year in each role: President-Elect, President, and Past-President), Teaching Conference Coordinator (and founder of the Portenier-Wertheimer Teaching Conference), and then as Archivist/Historian for almost two decades. In these roles, he has become widely recognized by Executive Committee members and others as the single most influential leader in the 91-year history of RMPA. Much of his extensive influence has been directed at mentoring teachers.

As noted previously, Professor Miller founded the Portenier-Wertheimer Teaching Conference, which became a highlight of the larger RMPA convention. Professor Miller created the structure of the Portenier-Wertheimer Teaching Conference to support the teaching of psychology in the Rocky Mountain Region, particularly the mentorship of emerging teacher-scholars. The Portenier-Wertheimer Teaching Conference draws teacher-scholars and students from across the region and features a keynote address by a nationally prominent teacher of psychology, a session in which presenters actively demonstrate their teaching activities, and a series of workshops and symposia directed at teachers of psychology. Across Professor Miller’s time as Coordinator of the Portenier-Wertheimer Teaching Conference, these workshops and symposia provided education and support for teachers as well as connections of experienced teachers of psychology as mentors to those who are at earlier in their careers as mentees.

The success of this teaching conference does not just reflect Professor Miller as an individual; it reflects his inclusion of the community. Professor Miller initiated the community planning sessions, held over lunch each year to discuss plans for the following year’s Portenier-Wertheimer Teaching Conference. In this way, the larger community of RMPA actively participates in and feels the ownership of these endeavors. Additionally, in ways that are unsurprising, even after sharing this leadership role with me in2010 (i.e., as Teaching Conference Co-Coordinator) and then passing the role entirely to me in 2013, he continued to lead this meeting, continuing his mentorship of me and others in this context.


Here is how I describe his outreach to high school teachers of psychology and others who are too often overlooked in this field.

There exist myriad other ways that Professor Miller contributes to mentoring of teachers at all levels. In addition to the outreach to faculty, Professor Miller has organized day-long symposia at RMPA and external grant funding to pay costs registration-for local high school teachers of psychology. In these formal and informal interactions, Professor Miller not only provides guidance; he uses his voice, privileged identities, and prominence to create spaces where others’ voices can be heard. He consistently invites people, particularly those with historically marginalized identities, into teaching and research opportunities, panel discussions, written projects, and research endeavors. His vita shines with a wide variety of co-authors, including students, junior faculty, and others.


The following is a short description of Rick at RMPA.

Beyond these impacts, the numbers on Professor Miller’s vita cannot capture the larger impacts on his faculty colleagues and on students at his and related institutions, including the impact of his support for the students of his faculty colleagues. To add an observational note, one of the reasons Professor Miller can be difficult to see at every RMPA convention is that he often remains obscured by the crowds of students and junior colleagues surrounding him and seeking his guidance between sessions. These are the reasons that Professor Miller has received the RMPA Distinguished Service Award [Addition April 2024: TWICE! And RMPA named it for him the second time], the RMPA Faculty Mentor Award, and, perhaps most important, the longstanding recognition and respect of his colleagues.


Here is a representative ending to a letter of support for Rick. Yes. Yes, I swing for the fences because he earns it and because even this strong letter cannot accurately convey Rick’s professional impact on me and so many others. Here I recognize the differences between some teachers. In some Eastern systems, our teachers are called Sifu. In some of these traditions, there is an additional recognition for the person who is not just the teacher of teachers but is also the one who establishes the system, goals, and values in which we all study and grow. This person is called Umlau. We recognize Rick in this way.

There is of course more that I could add here about the five decades of Professor Miller’s career. I’ll conclude with a final comparison. In some educational systems, there are recognitions reserved for the most senior of teachers who have had the largest mentoring impacts on others. These individuals are not simply those who teach others; these are the individuals who create and guide the larger context. These people are the leaders who establish the ethics and values that guide the teaching and other endeavors of those around them. Professor Miller is such a teacher. Across all of these mentorship endeavors and related activities, Professor Richard L. Miller exemplifies a teaching mentor who serves as a model for the STP Mentorship of Teachers Award, an honor he has consistently earned across the past five decades. Simply stated, I am one of the many teachers of psychology who cannot imagine my career without the mentorship of Professor Miller. I cannot convey enough in a written letter. Please contact me with any questions. Thank you very much for your time and consideration.


There is exactly one reason I have not added more here. There is not enough space to include everything and still keep it to a reasonable length.

A central goal for my entire career, even if it is impossible, is to strive to have the impacts that Rick has had. I view this as impossible. But, one of the ways we honor our mentors is to strive to accomplish that which is not possible. I am pleased to recognize Rick this way throughout ALL of my career.

Woody

Rick is one of a kind of unforgettable man, so many talents, interests, and sense of adventure exploring the world engaging with people from all walks of life. Brian and I always looked forward to our enriching reunions with Rick and Jeanne throughout our sea-faring travels. Their being in the wider world made it a better experience providing outstanding memories along the way to last a lifetime topped with tasty highlights of fresh green apple pie. Thank you Rick and Jeanne for sharing some of the best parts with us. We love you and keep you close to our hearts.

Dear Jeanne,

I wanted to send my love to you and to all of your family. I am so very appreciative that Rick entered my professional life, just as I was beginning my career. His leadership in our department meant such a great deal. I loved the ideas and energy he brought to our faculty and students. I could not be more touched and humbled for the ways he advanced student experiences, learning, and personal advancement on our university and region.

I am so appreciative of his unceasing support of me, of his continued nominations for recognition and awards he submitted on my behalf, and of his research and pedagogical advice. Most importantly, in all those ways that he lifted me up, Rick taught me want it means to be a true mentor and colleague. I consider it a great honor to try to mirror and carry forward those qualities in my future interactions with faculty, students, and community members.

I regret that I am not able to attend Rick's Celebration of Life this weekend, as my family has a visit with relatives. I send my love and care.

With my condolences, best wishes, and gratitude for Rick,
Christine

Rick was a great friend. His leadership, kindness, and expertise as a professional and a human being left a positive mark on many people in Kearney NE.

I will post several stories as evidence.

We shall be thinking of you.
I first met Rick just under 40 years ago when Nathan enrolled at school in Spain. We found we had many similar interests such as hiking, literature and music amongst others, and when Rick set up a scout group I was happy to assist and enjoy the activities and camping involved in scouting.
At a later point, Rick and Jeanne invited Marion and me to join them in the US and Canada, and over several years we had the opportunity to visit many areas in the region. The four of us also went to Mexico and South Africa, and in all the travelling found Rick’s knowledge and experience immensely enriching.
As a friend, Rick was supportive, considerate and generous: a good listener and constructive in discussion. I miss him deeply, remembering and treasuring the times we have shared and the many years of comradeship we enjoyed. He will never be forgotten.
We shall be thinking of you.

With irreplaceable memories of our many wonderful travel adventures with my two favorite traveling companions and friends forever.
Rick was a true renaissance man.

It was a great joy to know Rick Miller and see the many ways he helped RMPA be a strong Association. I certainly appreciated the help he gave to Paul Bell and myself in bringing an Environmental Symposium to RMPA Conferences. Last year he even presented a paper at the Symposium. That was great! I will miss seeing him and extend my sympathy to his family members in their loss. We all have much to remember because of him.

I will always be deeply indebted to Rick Miller for encouraging me to get involved with the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association (RMPA), which provided me with an opportunity to connect with an outstanding community of innovative and dedicated psychology faculty. Although we had met before and would go on to meet at other conferences as well, it was through RMPA that I really got to know Rick. I often described him as a “force of nature.” I guess what I meant by that was that he brought an amazing level of energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to his work on behalf of RMPA. Although he had been a Past-President of RMPA and had been on the Executive Committee for an eternity, no job was too small for him to work on, no task was too trivial for him to volunteer to take care of it. He really was the heart and soul of RMPA. I loved Rick’s sense of humor. He was always quick with an often cynical wisecrack. But he was cynical about institutions, not people. He treated everyone with warmth and respect. Rick also made significant contributions to the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP), the American Psychological Association (APA) and the universities where he taught. Rick was a superb teacher, mentor, administrator, research scientist, and leader. His loss will be deeply felt in many, many corners of academia. My heartfelt condolences to Jeanne and the family.

I am back in your house in Kearney looking at Reagan High School yearbooks and learning that Rick's uncle and my father in law were classmates there before WWII. And thus began a long history of visits with him, you, and Patty and me. Life does have a way of keeping us all connected. Our deepest sympathy and love to all the Millers. 

Jeanne and all who loved Rick,
I have known Rick for more years than I care to count. Across contexts, the most impressive characteristics Rick demonstrated were his ability to be surprised, his intellectual curiosity, his deep and genuine concern for students, and his sturdy faith in what psychology could accomplish if we just do it right. He modeled a life lived to the fullest and his passing leaves a big hole. His impact would be impossible to measure.

Hey, Jeannie,
I don't know if I'm supposed to be talking to you or to Rick: about Rick; him about himself . . . ; but I just want to say I always have thought you two were (are) a baaad-asss couple, since a long time ago.
And I was so pleased when you married and began living the life of the scientist in the living lab and out of the office. That was wonderful.
I remember Rick from a long time ago: always working head down on some project or other; running his little HUMMRO empire: you, Ro, Munir, Malachi (Fritz? – probably not, but he fits! Fritz fits!) if I'm not wrong. And I cannot forget Bill. And, Rick was garrulous, and he was fun, and I'm really fortunate to have spent the teeny tiny bit of time with him that I did. I was always in awe of Dr. Rick.
Vague recollections of Heidelberg, kids, boisterous boys, names forgotten (I am 72 now . . .), but there might be a Rick, Jr., in there, right? And why the name Nathan pops up, I hope it is because you guys have a son or friend of a son named Nathan?
Jeannie (genie), at this time, Jeannie, you are loved .
If you don't mind slumming, come see me: it kinda looks like Mallorca (autocorrect wrote “my orca”) because I haven't mown the lawn in a minute, and I love it, my little eden, but it is no paradise like the one(s) you and Rick created together.
So sorry, Jeannie; Rick, I hope you can hear this: much love and respect to you: to both of you.

( from a very sad Kathy Spruill-Dudley who agrees with Michael: " . . . gone too soon. . . .)

Jeanne, your loss breaks my heart. I wish I could have known Rick. So many people loved and admired him. I'm sure that something of him shone and will always shine through you. Thinking of you a lot.

Jeanne, I wish there were words to send you to ease your pain, but sadly there are none that I know of. Only time does that. I was very saddened when I read Ro's post about Rick. Even though I did not know him, I knew, just from the few times you and I have been together, how much you loved each other. Just listening to you as you talked with him on the phone gave me a sense of the wonderful relationship you had. Your voice and tone exuded warmth and caring, joy and fun, rare qualities after so many years of marriage. My heart goes out to you and all those who loved Rick.

On June 30th, Rick Miller, my friend of 43 years and the husband of my dearest friend, Jeanne Butler, died in the hospital in Mallorca. Rick will be eulogized for all of the wonderful things he was: dedicated family man to his immediate and extended family; award winning educator and researcher who was a mentor to many; a leader in his universities and professional organizations; a community servant who volunteered hours of his time especially to his beloved Boy Scouts; a Renaissance man with wide interests and talents (art, music, history, sailing, cooking, construction, and so much more); and a friend to many.
It is as a friend that I remember Rick today, hearing him call me “Rosingmary.” (I don’t know how that started.) I owe a great deal to Rick for my professional career as he was my boss and colleague at HumRRO in Heidelberg. Our children, Alyce and Nathan, were in school together there. Rick enriched our travels together with his knowledge of history. Our adventures with Rick and Jeanne on Moira in the English Channel, French canals, and Med and visits to their home in Mallorca are among our fondest memories.
There was a gap in our face-to-face interactions as we were geographically distant (Rick in Mallorca and then the States while we were in Germany). But when we returned to the States in 2003, we picked up where we left off. This was the beginning of the challenges Lilburn faced with his health, and Rick and Jeanne supported us in so many ways for more than ten years before Lilburn passed. Rick has been my electrician, plumber, all-around handyman, but most importantly the person who listened to and loved us. He was very special to Lilburn who at times thought Rick was his personal psychiatrist.
I am sorry that I wasn’t able to be with Rick and Jeanne during this past month. I am glad that Rick was able to do what he loved so much – be on the sea in his boat with the love of his life, Jeanne (whom by the way, I introduced him to.)
Now, I have to find the best way to support Jeanne in all that she faces in the coming days, weeks, months, and beyond. I will do whatever I can because I love her dearly as so many of you do.
Rick’s memory will surely be a blessing to all of us.