Thomas Vincent Miller Jr. (December 3, 1942 – January 15, 2021), known as Mike Miller, was an American politician from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. He had been a

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

representing the 27th District ( Calvert,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

, and Prince George's Counties) from 1975 to 2020 and served as its President from 1987 to 2020. He was the longest-serving

President of the Maryland Senate The President of the Maryland Senate is elected by a majority of the State Senators. The incumbent is Bill Ferguson (politician), Bill Ferguson who has held the role since January 8, 2020. The Maryland Constitution of 1864 created the new positio ...

, and was for a period the longest-serving state senate president in the United States.

Early life and education

Miller was born in

Clinton, Maryland Clinton is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Clinton was formerly known as Surrattsville until after the time of the Civil War, and Robeystown from 1865 to 1878. The population o ...

on December 3, 1942, the first of ten siblings, and attended Surrattsville High School. He studied at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

where he was a member of

Phi Sigma Kappa Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic Fraternities and sororities, fraternity with approximately 74 List of Phi Sigma Kappa chapters#Chapters, active chapters and provisional chapters in North Am ...

, and graduated with a B.S. in business administration in 1964. Miller went on to graduate from the

University of Maryland School of Law The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (formerly University of Maryland School of Law from 1924 to 2011) is the law school of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and is located in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1816, it i ...

in 1967 with an

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree. Miller was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1967.

Career

In 1971, he was elected to the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the Maryland General Assembly, legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House ...

from the third legislative district of Maryland in

Prince George's County Prince George's County (often shortened to PG County or PG) is located in the U.S. state of Maryland bordering the eastern portion of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 967,201, making it the second-most populous ...

, and served in that position until his election to the state senate in 1975. The Senate office building in

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

was named after him due to his being the longest-serving Senate president in the history of the state legislature. The Main Administration Building at his alma mater, the University of Maryland, College Park, was named after him on June 29, 2020. He was known as a tireless advocate for higher education institutions in Maryland and the building's official moniker was the "Thomas V. Miller Administration Building." Miller was featured in the

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documentary '' The Keepers'' for his opposition to a bill seeking to increase the statute of limitations for sexual abuse victims. On October 24, 2019, he announced he would step down from his leadership post, citing fatigue caused by his cancer treatment. He has stated that he intended to serve out the remainder of his term in the state Senate. On December 23, 2020, he announced his resignation from the senate, citing health reasons.

Personal life

Miller was married; he and his wife lived in Chesapeake Beach and had five children, a son and four daughters. He was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. In January 2019, Miller disclosed that he had been diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

in July 2018 and underwent prescribed medication treatment; in December 2018 he underwent

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

after the cancer was found to have progressed. Miller died at home in Chesapeake Beach from the effects of the disease on January 15, 2021.

References

External links

Senator Mike Miller
official website

official government website **Bills sponsore
Project Vote Smart - Senator Thomas V. 'Mike' Miller Jr. (MD)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Thomas V. (Mike) Miller Jr
2006200420021998
campaign contributions * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Thomas V. Jr. 1942 births 2021 deaths Deaths from prostate cancer in Maryland Maryland lawyers Democratic Party Maryland state senators People from Calvert County, Maryland People from Clinton, Maryland Presidents of the Maryland Senate University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law alumni University of Maryland, College Park alumni 20th-century members of the Maryland General Assembly Catholic politicians from Maryland 21st-century members of the Maryland General Assembly