James (Jim) Gegan Miller is an American

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, and

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

whose primary interests center around biomedical physics. He is currently a professor of physics, Medicine, and Biomedical Engineering, emeritus, at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

, where he holds the Albert Gordon Hill Endowed Chair in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He is notable for his interdisciplinary contributions to biomedical physics,

echocardiography An echocardiography, echocardiogram, cardiac echo or simply an echo, is an ultrasound of the heart. It is a type of medical imaging of the heart, using standard ultrasound or Doppler ultrasound. Echocardiography has become routinely used in t ...

, and

ultrasonics Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies fr ...

Biography

Miller grew up in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, and received his bachelor's degree in physics, summa cum laude, from

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

in 1964. He went on to receive master's and doctoral degrees from Washington University in St. Louis in 1966 and 1969, respectively. His doctoral advisor was Daniel Isadore Bolef. Thereafter he was hired as assistant professor of physics and earned tenure 2 years later, in 1970. He is now Albert Gordon Hill Chair of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Director of the Laboratory of Ultrasonics.

Teaching

For about four decades, Miller taught a course titled "Physics of the Heart" at Washington University. He won the college's Faculty Teaching Award in 1989 and the Emerson Teaching Award in 2004. Over the course of his career, he mentored 35 graduate students and numerous undergraduates, including Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

William E. Moerner William Esco Moerner (born June 24, 1953) is an American physical chemist and chemical physicist with current work in the biophysics and imaging of single molecules. He is credited with achieving the first optical detection and spectroscopy of a ...

Research

Miller has published more than 165 refereed journal articles and 110 conference proceedings and book chapters. His work has contributed greatly to ultrasonics, myocardial tissue characterization and has been incorporated into

devices in use throughout the world.

Awards

* IR-100 award for Ultrasonic Microemboli Monitor, 1974 (now called R&D 100 awards) * IR-100 Award: Acoustoelectric Receiving Transducer, 1978 *

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is a highly prestigious, non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a small group of graduate students in 1886 ...

National Speaker, 1981-1982 * Fellow of the

American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) is a multidisciplinary association dedicated to advancing the use of ultrasound in medicine through professional and public education, research, development of guidelines, and accreditation. ...

, 1986 * Fellow of the

Acoustical Society of America The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is an international scientific society founded in 1929 dedicated to generating, disseminating and promoting the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications. The Society is primarily a voluntary orga ...

, 1990 * Fellow of the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

, 1998 *

National Institutes of Health MERIT Award The NIH MERIT award (Method To Extend Research in Time) Award (R37) was created by the National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary age ...

, 1998 * Silver medal (in Biomedical Ultrasound/Bioresponse to Vibration), Acoustical Society of America, 2004 * Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award, Washington University, 2004 * Achievement Award, IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society, 2006 * Joseph H. Holmes Basic Science Pioneer Award, American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, 2014 * Rayleigh Award, IEEE UFFC, 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, James Gegan Washington University physicists Saint Louis University physicists Scientists from St. Louis American biomedical engineers Washington University School of Medicine faculty Washington University in St. Louis faculty 1942 births Living people