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

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

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 land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, and

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

. Loye Miller was born in

Minden, Louisiana Minden is a city and parish seat in Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 13,082. History Minden was established in 1836 by Charl ...

, 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, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

. 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 Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through 12th grade. Protestant missionaries establish ...

(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 history of the University of California, Los Angeles traces back to the 19th century when the institution operated as a teachers' college. It would grow in size and scope for nearly four decades on two Los Angeles campuses before California go ...

(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 is an active paleontological research site in urban Los Angeles. Hancock Park was formed around a group of tar pits where natural asphalt (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; ''brea'' in Spanish) has seeped up from the gro ...

, 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 in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The sediments are deposited in very fine ...

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 concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

, American Ornithological Union, and

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

. 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 inter ...

. He was awarded an honorary

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

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, mentored by the famous ornithologist, Joseph Grinnell, at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) and in avian paleontology.Joyce Harvey & Marilyn O ...

. 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, distribut ...

, 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 director, ...

. __NOTOC__

Books

* (with Ida DeMay) * (with

Robert C. Stebbins Robert Cyril Stebbins (March 31, 1915 – September 23, 2013) was an American Herpetology, 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 ...

) *

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