Founders' Lecturer, Joseph A. Miller, Jr.

Joseph A. Miller, Jr. (20K JPG)

The 1999 W. R. Marshall Founders' Lecturer was Joseph A. Miller, Jr., senior vice president for research and development and chief technology officer at E. I. duPont de Nemours & Company. His talk was entitled, "The Intriguing Challenges of Sustainability and Renewal: What an Engineer Can and Must Do." He shared some general principles for assuring the continued viability and vitality of an enterprise, whether a corporation, university, or individual. These included (1) developing the will for renewal and growth, (2) understanding the excitement that takes place at the interface of science and technology, (3) developing a realistic yet dynamic strategy for managing through life's transitions, and (4) increasing the knowledge intensity of the information that is the source of renewal and growth.

Dr. Miller did his undergraduate work at Virginia Military Institute and received his doctoral degree in chemistry from Pennsylvania State University in 1966. He has been with DuPont since 1966, assuming the position of senior vice president in 1994 and chief technology officer in 1996. He has held a variety of positions throughout DuPont in research and development, manufacturing, business, and marketing. From 1967 to 1969, Dr. Miller served in the United States Army at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Delaware and co-chairs a commission to reform science education in Delaware public schools. He received the Barnes Award for Research Leadership from the American Chemical Society in 1998.

The Founders' Lectureship was established in 1986 to bring distinguished speakers to the department to broaden our perspective and suggest new opportunities and areas of responsibility in the profession. The W. R. Marshall Fund supports this annual lectureship.