Prof. contributed to Nobel Prize research

Astronomy Professor Grant Miller spends a lot of his time pondering the greatest questions of existence. Now he has a share of the greatest award in astrophysics, the Nobel Prize.

Miller teamed up with the research team headed by American astrophysicist Saul Perlmutter involving supernovas and racing through the heavens. Perlmutter shared the Nobel Prize with Australian astrophysicist Brian P. Schmidt and Dr. Adam G. Riess, professor of astronomy and physics at Johns Hopkins University.

Perlmutter’ team was selected by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences “for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe through observations of distant supernovae.”

“My contribution to the overall effort was small,” said Miller. “But the fact that the project itself turned out to be so very significant is very rewarding.”

Angelina Stuart, Academic Senate president said Miller has been contributing to SWC for a very long time. As a former SWC Academic President he presented at the Academic Senate of California Community Colleges, Stuart said. Miller has always been modest about himself and the work he contributes to the college and the world, she said.

“His level of dedication and teaching is emblematic of the level of all the faculty that teach at this college,” she said. “His work and recognition in his research with Perlmutter is evidence of that.”

Born and raised in Thornton, Illinois, Miller said living in a small town did not stop him from reaching for the stars. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1989 with his Bachelor’s in Astronomy. Miller said his parents helped push him to fulfill his dreams. Miller’s mother is a high school graduate and his father never finished high school, but he said it was his parents that taught him the valuable lessons of life that he carries with him on his journey.

“My parents instilled in me a healthy curiosity, desire to learn, and a rigorous skepticism,” said Miller. “I try to impart all of those to my students.”

Miller said he did not develop his interest in astronomy until he started college and had to choose a major. He said he ended up sticking with it throughout college and at 24 moved to San Diego to attend SDSU, earning his Master’s.

He is also a 14-year Naval reservist. He is a fully qualified conning officer for Nimitz-class nuclear powered aircraft carriers, and conned the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan from San Diego to the Arabian Gulf during a combat deployment.

“When I am forward deployed, decisions that I make are sometimes literally life-and-death in nature, and affect billions of dollars worth of U.S. Navy equipment,” said Miller.  “Whereas, here at the college, my priorities and decisions have little, if any, influence across the institution.”

Housed in the planetarium, Miller teaches Intro Astronomy and History of Astronomy classes. He is also the director of the planetarium and enjoys guest lectures for young children.

“The planetarium reproduces the appearance, and motions, of the sky on the inner surface of the dome,” he said. “It is used exclusively as an educational tool.”

Aside from being heavily involved in the sciences, Miller loves the opera, particularly Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly.”

“The lyricism of the music, combined with the heart-wrenching story of love, loss, betrayal, regret, and self-sacrifice is moving,” he said.

His love of opera began when he was a young boy and saw Bizet’s “Carmen” performed at the Lyric Opera in Chicago.

“The broader real-world knowledge and experience makes me a better and more well rounded individual, and thus, hopefully, a better professor,” he said.

During graduate school Miller and a few of his friends took scuba diving lessons, and he remains a lover of the ocean. He also enjoys pumping iron at the gym.

Miller lives in a Golden Hills Victorian home built in 1893.

Joshua Saposnekoo, a student in Miller’s astronomy class, said the professor told his class to not forget that the greatest evolutionary tool that has come from stardust so far is the human brain.

“He made me cry with science,” said Saposnekoo. “He said that hopes and dreams reside in the brain, but so does evil and doubt, but do not let doubt and evil overwhelm the gloriousness of the brain. It was just crazy because he was so black-and-white and then he leaves us for the rest of the semester and now everything he taught me makes sense.”

Miller, and now his students, keep reaching for the stars.