Thomas V. ‘Mike’ Miller, Jr. Honored for Decades of Support, Transformation of Campus
Main Administration Building Named for Longtime Maryland Senate Leader
Photos by John T. Consoli
The Main Administration Building will now bear the name of Maryland Senate President Emeritus Thomas V. "Mike" Miller, Jr. ’64 (at left and below with his family), who played an important role in the campus' physical transformation and the launch of the MPowering the State initiative with the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
University President Wallace D. Loh sent the following email to the campus community today:
I am pleased to announce that, with the approval of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, the Main Administration Building at UMD is now named in honor of Maryland Senator Thomas V. "Mike" Miller, Jr.
Beginning in 1987, he presided as the longest-serving state senate president in the history of the United States, tirelessly advocating for higher education in our state. At the start of the General Assembly in January 2020, Senate President Miller announced his retirement from this leadership role, but remains in the chamber as a senator with the title of Senate President Emeritus.
Thirty-two years ago, in 1988, higher education in Maryland was forever changed with the enactment of legislation that designated the College Park campus as the "flagship" institution, with "programs and faculty ... recognized for excellence in research," with "highly qualified students ... of exceptional ability," and with "funds and facilities to place it among the upper echelons of its peer institutions."
It was the result of the efforts of many, but one person played a pivotal role in enhancing the future of our university: now-Senate President Emeritus Mike Miller.
He transformed our physical campus. He was instrumental in securing state investment for the Physical Sciences Complex, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Xfinity Center, the Bioscience Research Building and Cole Field House. He also transformed our academic and research programs by leading the efforts to forge a strategic partnership with the University of Maryland, Baltimore—named MPower, now codified in legislation—that has doubled our research enterprise and created new and collaborative educational opportunities for students and faculty on both campuses.
Please watch this special video announcement honoring Thomas V. “Mike” Miller:
Sincerely,
Wallace D. Loh
President, University of Maryland
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