Donation to MU supports Columbia Missourian, Honors Alumnus
June 4, 2008
Story Contact: Emily Smith, (573) 882-3346, SmithEA@missouri.edu
COLUMBIA, Mo. – A recent gift to the University of Missouri will provide support to the Columbia Missourian newspaper in the School of Journalism. June Reynolds Miller donated more than $120,000 in memory of her late husband, MU alumnus George H. Miller.
“George was always fond of MU; he favored it more than the other schools he attended because it’s where he became interested in journalism,” June said. “He thought highly of the professors who mentored him and taught him the ‘nuts and bolts’ of journalism. I made the endowment in his honor and to provide opportunities for the journalism school.”
The gift establishes the George H. Miller Columbia Missourian Endowment Fund. The fund will provide opportunities for students, faculty and staff to gain professional journalism experience at the Missourian.
The Missourian is a community newspaper directed by professional editors and staffed by MU journalism students. Students are responsible for reporting, designing and copy editing, as well as compiling informational graphics, photography and multimedia for the newspaper. The Missourian debuted on Sept. 14, 1908, the same day classes started at the MU journalism school.
“We are delighted by this generous gift in honor of a distinguished alumnus,” said Dean Mills, dean of the journalism school. “It will help us provide the invaluable hands-on experience of working under professional faculty editors to generations of Missouri students.”
George H. Miller graduated from MU in 1940 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He was an honor student and member of Kappa Tau Alpha, the national college honor society for journalism founded at MU in 1910. He served as an officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II and retired from the Naval Reserve in 1975 as a lieutenant commander. George wrote regular columns for The Madison Courier and Weekly Herald in Indiana from 1964 to 1995. In 1957, he began working for the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla., where he was director of the cooperative education program for 12 years.
The George H. Miller Columbia Missourian Endowment Fund supports the For All We Call Mizzou campaign, which will celebrate raising $1 billion in the spring of 2009. Reaching this goal enhances MU’s ability to compete nationally and internationally for the best students and faculty and provides broad access for students of all economic backgrounds to Missouri’s flagship University. The campaign has raised $932.81 million, 93.28 percent of goal.
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