Loye Holmes Miller (18 October 1874 – 6 April 1970), was an American

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

and zoologist who served as professor of zoology at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, and

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

. Loye Miller was born in

Minden, Louisiana Minden is a small city in and the parish seat of Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 11,928. The Main Street district of Minden ...

, to parents George and Cora Holmes Miller and grew up in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

. Miller studied at the

, earning a B.A. in chemistry (1898), an M.A. in zoology (1904) and Ph.D. in paleontology (1912). He taught for three years at

Oahu College Oahu College (originally and later, Punahou School; 1853-1934) was located in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was a school for the children of Protestant missionaries serving throughout the Pacific region. It was the first school west of the Rocky Mountains ...

(now called Punahou School) in Honolulu before earning his master's degree. He was first instructor of biology at

Los Angeles State Normal School The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) traces back to the 19th century, when the institution operated as a teachers' college. It grew in size and scope for nearly four decades on two Los Angeles campuses before California governor Willi ...

(which would later become UCLA), teaching from 1904 to 1919. He later became a professor, retiring in 1943. His research included, among others, fossil birds from Pleistocene caves in California, the

La Brea Tar Pits La Brea Tar Pits comprise an active Paleontological site, paleontological research site in urban Los Angeles. Hancock Park was formed around a group of tar pits where natural Bitumen, asphalt (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; ''brea'' ...

, and the

Green River Formation The Green River Formation is an Eocene geologic formation that records the sedimentation in a group of intermountain lakes in three basins along the present-day Green River (Colorado River), Green River in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The sedimen ...

in Oregon. With funding from the University Regents, he and

John C. Merriam John Campbell Merriam (October 20, 1869 – October 30, 1945) was an American paleontologist, educator, and conservationist. The first vertebrate paleontologist on the West Coast of the United States, he is best known for his taxonomy of ver ...

excavated La Brea from 1905 to 1907 and in 1912–1913. Reprinted online a
University of California Museum of Paleontology
/ref> Miller was a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

American Ornithological Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

, and

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, that is among the largest List of natural history museums, museums of natural history in the world, housing over ...

. He served as vice-president of the

Society of Vertebrate Paleontology The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) is a professional organization that was founded in the United States in 1940 to advance the science of vertebrate paleontology around the world. Mission and activities SVP has about 2,300 members inte ...

. He was awarded an honorary

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

by the University of California in 1951. Known as "Padre" to friends and colleagues, He supervised two Ph.D. students, two master's students, and served on the dissertation committee of paleontologist

Hildegarde Howard Hildegarde Howard (April 3, 1901 – February 28, 1998) was an American pioneer in paleornithology. She was mentored by the famous ornithologist, Joseph Grinnell, at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) and in avian paleontology.Joyce Harvey & ...

. Miller died April 6, 1970, in Davis, California. He was survived by his son Holmes Odell, three grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. His elder son

Alden Holmes Miller Alden Holmes Miller (February 4, 1906 – October 9, 1965) was an American ornithologist and director of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley for 25 years. He published over 250 papers on the biology, distribu ...

, who died in 1965, was a professor of zoology at UC Berkeley, and director of the

Museum of Vertebrate Zoology The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology is a natural history museum at the University of California, Berkeley. The museum was founded by philanthropist Annie Montague Alexander in 1908. Alexander recommended zoologist Joseph Grinnell as museum directo ...

. __NOTOC__

Books

* (with Ida DeMay) * (with

Robert C. Stebbins Robert Cyril Stebbins (March 31, 1915 – September 23, 2013) was an American herpetologist and illustrator known for his field guides and popular books as well as his studies of reptiles and amphibians. His ''Field Guide to Western Reptiles and ...

) *

References

External links

*
Guide to the Loye Holmes Miller papers, 1899-1957
at the Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Loye H. 1874 births 1970 deaths American paleontologists American ornithologists University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California, Berkeley faculty University of California, Los Angeles faculty University of California, Davis faculty People from Minden, Louisiana Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Writers from Louisiana 20th-century American zoologists

Books

References

Further reading

External links