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2008 Honorary Degree Recepient Susan Miller
With the second largest gift ever made to a Florida university, the Miller family has enabled the University of Miami’s medical school to achieve unprecedented levels of excellence in clinical care, biomedical research, and medical education. Susan Miller’s passionate involvement in an array of worthwhile organizations and causes, including the Annenberg Trust and, for more than 25 years, the United Way of Miami-Dade, has made our city and county a more nurturing and healthful place for all. In grateful recognition of and deep appreciation for her stellar contributions to the University and the Miami community, she is today being awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa. The Miller family has long supported the University of Miami. In 1998, the Millers donated $5 million to establish the Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies. The center is the first research and academic center in the United States to focus primarily on the issues that have affected the Jewish people in the 20th century and the challenges they face in the future. Throughout his involvement with the University, Leonard Miller championed the enormous potential of the medical school, and the Miller family’s historic $100 million gift, made in 2004, was a tribute to his vision. At the announcement ceremony, Susan Miller stood with her family, including her three children—Stuart (CEO of Lennar Corporation and a UM alumnus and trustee), Jeffrey, and Leslie—and 11 grandchildren. She movingly paid tribute to her husband, recognized the school’s scientists, physicians, and caregivers, and urged the youngest members of her family to continue its tradition of philanthropy. The funds have helped to create four Miller professorships, support the construction of new facilities, recruit the next generation of biomedical scientists, and enhance the medical school’s academic and clinical missions. Longtime South Florida residents, the Millers came to Miami in 1954 as newlyweds following Leonard’s graduation from Harvard. Both had grown up in Massachusetts. Soon after the young couple arrived, Leonard invested $10,000 into a small construction company. That company ultimately became Lennar Corporation, one of the nation’s leading homebuilders and providers of residential financial services. Over more than four decades, Susan and Leonard Miller built a distinctive style of philanthropy, inspiring many others to join them in making powerful commitments to improve the community. One of the Millers’ most passionate causes has been the South Florida Annenberg Challenge, now known as the Council for Educational Change, which works to raise the level of student achievement in public schools. Susan Miller currently serves as chair of the council’s Educational Advancement Committee. In 2001, the Millers were awarded the Greater Miami Chamber’s “Sand In My Shoes” award—its highest honor. Since Leonard Miller’s death the following year, Susan Miller has continued and expanded her philanthropic activities. She and her family have given more than $112 million to the University, primarily to the Miller School of Medicine, the Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies, the School of Law, and the Intercollegiate Athletics Program. She has helped to raise millions of dollars for United Way of Miami-Dade, providing thousands of area residents with urgently needed social services. She also founded United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council, which has raised more than $5.5 million since its inception while mentoring young women as community leaders. Susan Miller serves as president, secretary, and treasurer of the Miller Family Foundation, which primarily supports Big Brothers/Big Sisters, civil rights, and organizations that build understanding among ethnic and religious groups. With her late husband, she established the Lennar Foundation, which gives primarily to education and youth organizations. She is a charter member of Fifty over Fifty, now known as the Funding Arts Network, a group of Miami women who contribute to local arts organizations. She has served on the boards of the Bass Museum of Art and the New World Symphony. Susan Miller and her family have set an example of generosity and community service that will forever advance the University and enhance South Florida. The University is honored to recognize her extraordinary contributions. |
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A philanthropist extraordinaire, Susan Miller epitomizes the very essence of philanthropy, combining towering generosity with boundless compassion and prodigious energy. She and her late husband, Leonard M. Miller, who served on the University of Miami’s Board of Trustees for two decades, including four years as chairman, and their family have played a truly transformative role in South Florida.