Miller Foundation Bestows $25 M to Portland State University
The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation recently announced a $25 million grant to Portland State University. The university will dedicate the funds exclusively to the goal of strengthening its role as a national leader in sustainability research and education.
The grant is a unique, one-time event for the Miller Foundation and is a challenge grant, requiring Portland State to raise at least an additional $25 million over the next 10 years.
"Portland State University is thankful for this incredible vote of confidence in our vision for a university working in partnership with its community, and a university dedicated to global leadership in sustainability research and education," said University President Wim Wiewel. "And as far as we know, this is the largest grant to support sustainability in higher education."
Portland State University is a leader in sustainability research and education, providing practical solutions to some of the world's most pressing environmental, social, and economic problems. Today, Portland State's sustainability research and education is focused on four primary areas of inquiry: creating sustainable urban communities, the integration of human societies and the natural environment, implementing sustainability, and mechanisms of change and measuring sustainability.
James F. "Jimmy" Miller was born in a small community outside of Portland, Ore., in 1905. Miller began his career as an errand runner at Blyth and Co. (predecessor to both Paine Webber and UBS Financial Services) at age 14. Without much formal education, he rose to become the president of Blyth & Co. in New York in the early 1960s. Miller lived and prospered in New York with his wife Marion of nearly 68 years. He returned to Portland in 1998 where he continued to invest in the markets and advise others until his passing in 2004 at age 99. Marion L. Miller passed in 1998.