In September 2021, SHSU Online was pleased to welcome Dr. Brian Miller to a new position as a Director of Research and Strategic Support. Three years later, Dr. Miller announced that he would be retiring and moving on to a new phase of life effective September 2024.
Dr. Miller, who earned degrees at Texas Christian University and Southwest Texas State University, taught choral music in public schools in Texas before earning his doctorate at Arizona State University. After holding positions as Director of Choral Studies at Grand Canyon University and SHSU, he moved into administration.
SHSU Online benefitted from Dr. Miller's broad administrative experience from posts in SHSU's College of Education (COE) and the College of Fine Arts and Mass Communication (now CAM, the College of Arts and Media). In COE, he served as an administrator for many years as the Director of Educator Preparation Services. In that capacity, he worked extensively with SHSU faculty and oversaw field experiences and educational partnerships with local public-school districts. While in the College of Education, he also served as College Vice-President of the Texas Music Educator’s Association, President of the Texas Directors of Field Experiences, and the Chair of the Consortium of State Organization of Texas Teacher Education. When the College of Fine Arts and Mass Communication was created in 2011, he became Associate Dean for the College, where he served for 10 years before coming to SHSU Online in 2021.
Words from Dr. Miller
I appreciate the opportunity to share a few words as I look back at 27 years at Sam Houston State University and move into this new era labeled “retirement.” A little history - though born in Minnesota, my family moved to the Rio Grande Valley when I was one, where I was raised. Like many from that area of Texas, I am first gen, and from the beginning, I have appreciated the unique and special mixture of students at SHSU and how focused the university’s programs, faculty, and staff are on supporting those students.
I'm fortunate to have worked with many great colleagues over the years, not only in my area, but across many departments, colleges, and other areas throughout the university, and many of those colleagues became cherished friends. With many people away from campus, summer may not be the best time to retire, but I greatly appreciate the retirement gathering SHSU Online hosted for me in August, and also the opportunity SHSU Online is providing in this newsletter to share my thoughts around retirement with the greater community that I have been privileged to be a part of for 25-plus years.
Though retirement-eligible and pondering it for a number of years, the timing of my retirement was assisted by a rather quick decision to return to Austria for the 200th anniversary celebration, on September 4, 2024, of Anton Bruckner, the Austrian composer whose works I have admired since high school - he and his sacred motets were the subject of my dissertation. Similar to the enthusiasm for Mozart evident in and around Salzburg, Bruckner is likewise revered in Upper Austria, so I planned my schedule to spend some extended time in Upper Austria for an international Bruckner Congress followed by a Bruckner tour that included a celebration in the town of Bruckner’s birth. Since I was already going to be in Europe, I decided to check off a couple more items off my “bucket list” and included some time to explore the land of some of my ancestors in Norway and to visit Scotland. I enjoyed sharing the motivation for my retirement date and travel with friends at my retirement gathering in August - I am happy to report that the trip was all that I hoped it would be.
I would be remiss if I did not express my appreciation to the department from which I am retiring. When I joined SHSU Online three years ago, I shared that I was “intrigued by online education,” and can say that the intrigue has only increased. Since then, I have observed and come to appreciate SHSU Online and the extraordinary range and amount of work that is accomplished in its service to a surprising variety of areas in the university, the university system, and beyond. I expect distance education will play an extraordinary role in the future, and I am glad to have learned more about it and been a part of it at SHSU Online.
As for my future and the new chapter beginning to enfold, I look forward to being able to relax a bit and spend more time in west Austin with my wife, family and friends, and I particularly look forward to rewarding time with my son, who has Autism.
I simply cannot adequately express my appreciation for ALL the colleagues I've enjoyed working with at SHSU, particularly those in Music, Education, CAM, and most recently, at SHSU Online, so I won’t try beyond saying it was an outstanding run, and Thank You!