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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In the late 1960s, as George H. Miller was contemplating his future after high school, a neighbor and family friend in Towanda, Pa., stepped in to help the man who had just graduated a decade earlier. A young man who immigrated from Germany with his mother. .
“I’m taking you to Penn State,” the neighbor and college alumnus told Miller. A few days later, she drove him to State College and changed the course of his life.
Nearly 55 years after Miller walked into Old Main and applied to colleges, the world-renowned architect has returned with a stellar career and has been recognized as one of the eight 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients. The Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest honor the university bestows on outstanding alumni.
“The education I received at Penn State gave me the opportunity to become the person I am today,” Miller said. “I am extremely honored and excited to be a part of this incredible group of alumni and consider it a highlight of my career.”
Miller is chief operating officer of Meier Partners, an international architecture firm based in New York that has designed some of the world’s most famous buildings. In 2010, he served as President of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and most recently served as President of the New York Chapter of the AIA.
During his five-decade career, Miller worked on many important projects in the United States, including: Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio; National Constitution at the Philadelphia Mall Center; the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina; and the U.S. Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.
His international projects include the Raffles International Center in Singapore; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Luxembourg; the Soyak Kristalkule Finansbank Istanbul headquarters; the Charles Darwin Center in Darwin, Australia; the Lombard Palace in Milan; and the Taishin International Bank in Taipei.
Miller’s dream of an architectural career began in the 1960s in Towanda, a small town in northeastern Pennsylvania, where he said he was often drawn to the design of the Bradford County Courthouse. Awareness of the influence of architecture sparked his interest in the field, which led him to his first job working with Richard Sweitzer, then the town’s One of two architects.
Exposure to the arts of design and architecture led to his education at Penn State University. In 1973, while earning his bachelor’s degree in architecture, Miller went on a transformative study abroad trip with six other students to San Lucio, Italy, a city planned by King Charles VII of Naples in the mid-1700s utopian community.
Miller lived in San Lucio for three months, studying the town’s architecture and culture as part of an interdisciplinary student group. Under the attention of Richard Plunz, then professor of architecture, he contributed to the book Tradition in Transformation, which has recently been translated into Italian in honor of the book and 50th anniversary of the project.
He said his work on the project not only helped shape his design philosophy but also forged a lifelong friendship with San Lucio resident Leonardo Rivero.
“My time in Italy changed my life,” Miller said. “It also made me realize the importance of Penn State’s study abroad program, which I am proud to support.”
Shortly after receiving his degree in 1973, Miller prepared a portfolio of his work and eventually landed a job in New York working with I.M. Pei. I.M. Pei was a famous Chinese-American architect who designed some of the world’s most famous buildings, including New York’s Glass Pyramid.Louvre Museum in Paris, John F. Kennedy Library, and National Gallery of Art East Wing in Washington, D.C.
Miller worked at Pei’s firm, which later became Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, until 2018, before joining Meier.
“Working with IM is exciting and rewarding,” said Miller. “I’ve been lucky enough to have a wonderful career and I hope I can have an impact on how people live in the built environment – where they work, play, learn and heal.”
Throughout a career that pushed the boundaries of design and changed the face of communities around the world, Miller remained close to Penn State. He chairs the Provost’s Global Advisory Council and has served on the Stackman School’s Advisory Council.
“Penn State’s global impact is simply amazing,” Miller said. “Penn State is everywhere from agriculture to the medical field, performing arts, engineering, liberal arts, business and more, and I want to contribute to that cause.”
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