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Meet Annetta Miller,
Wayne State's queen of green
arely 5 feet tall with a froth of gray
hair and oversize tortoise-shell glasses,
Annetta Miller walks with a spring in her
step that belies
her 87 years.
She's got a
twinkle in her
eye, but don't
let that fool
you. Miller is
a force to be
reckoned with.
And though
she may not
be comfortable
with the title
of rabble-
rouser, she
has definitely
rattled some
cages.
B
Miller entered
public service
to oppose the
Vietnam War
in 1970. She
ran for the U.S.
Congress to
try to prevent
the election
of a candidate
who defended
the fighting.
Though
she lost that bid, her numerous supporters
convinced her to seek a seat on the state Board
of Education. She was elected to three back-to-
back, eight-year terms and became a champion
for quality public education. She then took her
passion for education to Wayne State, winning
a position on the Board of Governors in 1996
and again in 2004.
Her current fight is for the environment, as her
lapel button, "Give Earth a Chance," testifies.
In September 2006, she presented a Resolution
on Environmental Concerns to the Board,
urging Wayne State to work continuously
toward sustainability and protecting the earth's
resources. It became the impetus for the Task
Force on Environmental Initiatives and the
university's Living Green efforts.
"As a university, we need to be setting an
example in this important
area," she says.
The group's first order of
business was to create a
comprehensive plan for a
viable recycling program
on campus. Today,
recycling receptacles
for paper, plastic and
aluminum can be found
in more than 60 buildings
and battery recycling
containers are located all
over the university.
The group's most recent
project focuses on
transportation, specifically
trying to reduce the
amount of vehicle traffic
to and from Wayne's
campus. Task force
members are encouraging
alternative transportation
ideas as simple as mass
transit and car pooling.
They support the light-rail
transit line proposal being
discussed in the Michigan
legislature.
Miller has the ear of Wayne State's Facilities
Planning and Management Office and is
pushing for solar retrofitting initiatives,
installing green roofs on university buildings,
and striving to meet or exceed LEED Green
Building Rating System standards on new
construction on campus. "The new engineering
building is the closest we've come," she says.
"People don't seem to know that we each
have a responsibility. If that is something that
everybody accepts, I think we will be successful
in making the college actually green," she adds.
Miller's life of service began during World War
II, when she was a young woman working
overseas as an army nurse, achieving the rank
of second lieutenant. She was stationed in a
military hospital in England caring for prisoners
of war. In an ironic twist of fate, a number of
her patients were German officers.
She met her husband, Sydney, a physician, in
England and moved back to the Detroit area
with him after the war ended. The couple has
been married 63 years.
"People don't seem to
know that we each have
a responsibility. If that is
something that everybody
accepts, I think we will be
successful in making the
college actually green."
— Annetta Miller
Over her many decades in public office,
Miller has been lauded by everyone from
the Michigan Federation of Teachers to the
Michigan Association of School Boards to
the ACLU. The Detroit City Council gave her
the Spirit of Detroit award in 2005. And in
November, she was honored by Wayne State's
Irvin D. Reid Honors College for Outstanding
Lifetime Contributions to the Community
for her tireless advocacy for students and the
environment.
What really excites her, however, is not the
award itself but its origin. "I was more pleased
that it was coming from the Honors College,
which we finally achieved, than that it was
actually mine," she says. "I appreciate the fact
that we now have an Honors College that is so
well organized that they are giving awards."
With all her many interests and passions, why
is Miller so focused on the environment? "I've
got seven grandchildren," she says without
hesitation. "I want the world to be a healthy,
safe place for them to grow up in."
Have you downsized or plan on moving soon?
If the answer is yes, and you are 65 years or older, then we're looking for you!
Wayne State University's Institute of Gerontology is conducting research to understand how
people downsize and move in later life.
Participants receive $35
Mark Luborsky, PhD, and Cathy Lysack, PhD, co-principal investigators.
For more information call (313) 577-2297 and ask for the downsizing study.
WAYNE STATE
UNIVERSITY'
Institute of Gerontology