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

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. He had been a

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

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 ''*k ...

, 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 the State Senate. The incumbent is Bill Ferguson who has held the role since 2020. The Maryland Constitution of 1864 created the new position of Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, elected by the vot ...

, 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 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 land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

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 fraternity with approximately 74 active chapters and provisional chapters in North America. Most of its first two dozen chapters were granted to schools in ...

, and graduated with a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in business administration in 1964. Miller went on to graduate from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1967 with an LL.B. 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 legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

from the third legislative district of Maryland in

Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...

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

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. 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

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

documentary ''

The Keepers ''The Keepers'' is a seven-episode American documentary web series that explores the unsolved murder of nun Catherine Cesnik in 1969. Cesnik taught English and drama at Baltimore's all-girls Archbishop Keough High School, and her former students ...

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

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

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

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

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 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians Deaths from cancer in Maryland Deaths from prostate cancer Maryland lawyers Democratic Party Maryland state senators People from Calvert County, Maryland People from Clinton, Maryland Presidents of the Maryland State Senate University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law alumni University of Maryland, College Park alumni