Media Contact:
Dr. Carolyn R. Miller, 919/515-4126
Lauren Kirkpatrick, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, 919/513-1829

Dec. 12, 2005

Miller Named SAS Institute Distinguished Professor at NC State

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dr. Carolyn Miller

Dr. Carolyn R. Miller, professor of English in North Carolina State University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS), has been appointed as the first SAS Institute Distinguished Professor of Rhetoric and Technical Communication. The appointment was approved by the NC State Board of Trustees and the UNC Board of Governors. Miller’s appointment was the result of a national search.

“As our Distinguished Professor in Rhetoric and Technical Communication, Carolyn Miller is providing intellectual leadership and enhanced visibility for our programs,” says CHASS Dean Linda P. Brady. “She is creating and teaching graduate and undergraduate courses, and helping develop interdisciplinary connections with the outstanding technical programs at NC State. She will also play an important role in strengthening connections with industry and in increasing opportunities for industry-based course projects and for student internship experiences. We are so grateful to SAS Institute, and we are thrilled to have Carolyn working among us in this new capacity.”

A national expert in technical communication and rhetorical studies, Miller is a frequently cited author in technical communication journals. Her research focuses on how the patterns of thought and language in science and technology influence cultural beliefs and values. Her work, which appears in major research journals and volumes of essays, has received three publication awards.

At NC State, where she has been on the faculty since 1973, Miller teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in rhetoric and technical communication. She is co-founder and first director of NC State’s Ph.D. program in communication, rhetoric, and digital media, established this year. A joint effort between the NC State departments of Communication and English, the Ph.D. is the first of its kind in North Carolina, and one of only a handful across the nation.

Miller was also founding director of the Master’s of Science degree in technical communication in 1988, and served as director of professional writing at NC State for 10 years. Miller is a past president of the Rhetoric Society of America and was named a Fellow of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing in 1995. She has been a member of the university’s Academy of Outstanding Teachers since 1984, and was named Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor in 1999. Miller received her Ph.D. in communication and rhetoric from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1980.

The $1 million endowed professorship is made possible by SAS Institute Inc. and matching funds from the Distinguished Professors Endowment Trust Fund.

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