Biography of Dr. Robert "Bob" Rush Miller
by
Dr. G. R. Smith, University of Michigan

Robert Rush Miller

April 23, 1916 - February 10th, 2003

Robert R. Miller was an important figure in American ichthyology and conservation from 1940 to the 1990s. He was born April 23, 1916, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He earned his A.B. at Berkeley in 1938, M.A. at Michigan in 1943, and Ph.D. at Michigan in 1944.  The most important collaborations in his career began in the summer of 1938 when he joined Carl L. Hubbs and his family to conduct field work in eastern Nevada and met Francis Hubbs.  From the time of their marriage in 1940 until her death in 1987, Bob and Fran worked as an inseparable team, creating a research enterprise that is unmatched, as it joined the energetic program of Frances' parents, Carl and Laura Hubbs.

Robert Miller's first five papers as a student, 1936-40, established the zoogeographical region and taxonomic direction of his interests with small papers on Mohave/Southern California minnows and Fundulus.  In the 1941-44 period, he published 11 papers on his dissertation work covering Cyprinodon and other SW fishes.  The Hubbs influence appears stronger in the years 1945-49, with 20 wide ranging taxonomic papers and reviews, including Miller's landmark dissertation monograph on Death Valley Cyprinodon and the classic Great Basin paper with Carl Hubbs.  Miller worked as Associate Curator of Fishes at the U.S. National Museum of Natural History from 1944 to 1948 and in 1948 became Associate Curator of Fishes at the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan.  In 1950-55, as a new faculty member at Michigan, he published 65 reviews and short papers on cyprinodontoids, trouts, Dorosoma, gars, eels, post-larval fishes, hybrid suckers, and identification of archaeological remains, mostly from the southwest U.S. and Mexico. Tenure was granted at the University of Michigan in 1954.  Miller's signature period was 1956-60, when he published 21 wide-ranging, but deeper, creative papers and reviews including the significant paper on west-slope Cottus with C. Richard Robins, the description of all-female strains of Poeciliopsis, the ground-breaking paper on the "Origin and affinities of the freshwater fish fauna of Western North America" and the monograph on the Plagopterini with Carl Hubbs.  In this period, an increasing concentration on the freshwater fishes of Mexico was marked by the beginning of the biennial field trips to Mexico.

The period 1961-65 began with the conservation call to arms: "Man and the changing fish fauna of the American Southwest," and continued with a paper on speciation rates in western fishes, four ground-breaking papers on Cenozoic fossil fishes with Teruya Uyeno, his summary review of "Quaternary freshwater fishes of North America," the Ichthyology textbook with Karl Lagler and John Bardach, the book on Fishes of Utah with William Sigler, and the first list of "Extinct, rare, and endangered American freshwater fishes."  Thirty-four papers were published in this productive and influential period. 

In 1966-70, 16 papers focussed especially on the diversity of the fauna of Mexico (seven papers) and the status of threatened and endangered fishes (four papers).  The years, 1971-75, were a period of enormous productivity, with 53 papers and reviews, including descriptions of new recent and fossil fishes of Mexico, creative work on fish karyology with Teruya Uyeno, conservation papers, and the description of the giant Miocene salmonid, Smilodonichthys rastrosus from Oregon, with Ted Cavender, and the detailed monograph on "Hydrographic history and relict fishes of the north-central Great Basin with Carl and Laura Hubbs.

In the 1960s and 70s the Miller family made field trips together and Frances worked beside Bob in the lab as well as the field.  Bob and Francis shared every aspect of their productive lives during that period, though Fran chose to be a silent partner, as far as publication was concerned.  Fran and Bob pulled the seine together through hundreds and hundreds of streams in Western U. S. and Mexico, and when the net was on the bank and Bob led the calling out of species names for the field notebook, Fran often proved her sharp eye and knowledge of fishes by correcting the identification of difficult specimens, much to the delight of all present.  As the Miller children, Giff, Francis, Roger, Ben, and Larry, assumed their roles in fieldwork, the seining parties became formidable teams, sharing the adventure of many expeditions and explorations.  Many graduate students were welcomed into the ichthyological family over the years; all were made to feel part of a tradition of lasting importance to natural history.

In 1976-80, Miller published 47 papers, reviews, and abstracts on Mexican fishes, fish chromosomes, and conservation.  In 1981-85, he published 43 papers, reviews, and abstracts on fishes of Mexico and southwest U.S., conservation, biogeography, and systematics. After Fran's death, work became more difficult, and Bob went through annual cycles of depression alternating with periods of intense work.  In 1986-90, 17 papers and abstracts were published, including the two important zoogeography chapters on Mexico and the Rio Grande Basin, with Michael L. Smith and additional works on the fishes of Mexico.  W.L. Minckley became an important partner in fieldwork in Mexico during this period. In 1991-94, 17 abstracts and papers appeared, mostly aimed at tying up loose ends on the Freshwater Fishes of Mexico. 

An important contribution to history of fish study appeared in 1992, written with Clark Hubbs and Frances H. Miller-"Ichthyological exploration of the American West, the Hubbs-Miller era."

In the later 1990s, work on the Freshwater Fishes of Mexico was carried forward by W.L. Minckley, Steve Norris, and Martha Gach, with Miller's participation when his health permitted. The manuscript was closed a few days before Minckley's death in July, 2001. Bruce Turner organized a Symposium on Cyprinodon, held at the In July, 2001 meetings of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists at State College Pennsylvania, in honor of Robert R. Miller.  Clark Hubbs and Phil Pister presented reminiscences and summarized some of Millers accomplishments. Miller's failing health did not permit his attendance, but he was very appreciative of the recognition.

The most productive decade of Miller's career was 1956-65, opening up new fields, intensifying his field work and his experimental program in the Fish Division Aquarium room, and guiding a large group of graduate students, including Jorge Carranza, Bernie Nelson, Howard Huddle, Jack Schultz, Teruya Uyeno, Gerald Smith, and Steve Farris.  Subsequently, John Lundberg, Michael Fitzsimmons, Michael Smith, Julian Humphries, Barry Chernoff, BettyLou Brett, and Dolores Lyons Kingston earned their PhDs under Miller's guidance and Teruya Uyeno, Ted Cavender, and Bruce Turner worked with him as post-doctoral Fellows.  Reeve M. Bailey was his fellow curator and influential colleague, while William A. Gosline was also an important colleague in Division of Fishes in the Museum.

Bob served as ichthyological editor of Copeia 1950-55, Chairman of the Endangered Species Committee of the American Fisheries Society, 1969-71, Chairman of the Desert Fishes Council, 1974-76, Chairman of the Freshwater Fish Group, IUCN, 1965-79, and President of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in 1965. He received the Award of Excellence in 1975 and the Golden Membership Award in 1992 from the American Fisheries Society. In 1989 he was elected an Honorary Member of La Sociedad Mexicana de Zoologia and in 1990 was elected Distinguished Fellow of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. He was given the Robert H. Gibbs Memorial Award from the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in 1994. Bob Miller is remembered as a person of formidable creative energy and outstanding dedication to the science of ichthyology and the conservation of fishes.  He was a major source of inspiration to his colleagues and students.

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This page last modified:  18 January 2004