Statement by the USM Board of Regents and Chancellor Jay A. Perman on the Passing of Senate President Emeritus Thomas V. "Mike" Miller
Baltimore, Md. (Jan. 15, 2021) – The University System of Maryland (USM) joins leaders and citizens across the state in mourning the passing of Senate President Emeritus Thomas V. “Mike” Miller.There is no elected official in Maryland who meant more to our system of public higher education than Sen. Miller. He was a passionate advocate for both access and excellence, knowing that high-quality education is meaningless if its doors are shut to those who would most benefit.
It is not hyperbole to say his leadership has made the University System of Maryland what it is today—a strong, resilient, and dynamic organization that has gotten better and better at opening access to college and making it more affordable; better at serving Maryland’s students and improving their completion rates; better at preparing graduates for fulfilling careers and high-demand industries; better at creating the innovations that improve quality of life; and better at growing the state’s economy so that all Marylanders—including those who have never visited a USM campus—benefit from the work we do.
It was Sen. Miller’s vision and dogged work that created the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership between the University of Maryland, Baltimore and the University of Maryland, College Park. That partnership has paid enormous dividends—in education, research, entrepreneurship, and economic development—since its inception. It will place the two institutions, together, in the top tier of U.S. research universities, public and private alike. And it has become a model for interinstitutional collaboration that makes the University System stronger than the sum of its parts.
There is no one so directly connected with Maryland’s strength and progress as Sen. Miller, and education is but one sector on which his influence will be felt for generations. But those of us dedicated to Maryland’s public universities will never forget what he has done for our students, because we see his impact every day in their ambitions and their success.
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Contact: Mike Lurie
Phone: 301.445.2719
Email: mlurie@usmd.edu