Miller's first job was as an agent at the
agricultural extensions for
Ritchie and
Nicholas Counties. In 1942, he enlisted in the
United States Army Air Corps as a navigator. After
World War II ended, he studied for a doctorate in anthropology and sociology at
Michigan State College. After graduating in 1953, Miller worked as a professor of Sociology at Michigan State, becoming director of the Cooperative Extension and eventually provost. He helped establish the Colombian Institute of Agriculture in
Bogotá and the
Morogoro Institute of Technology in
Tanzania. Miller inherited a nearly 12% budget deficit, the result of declining enrollment, higher attrition, and higher costs for the new campus which resulted in several years of austerity. Additionally, Miller quelled student demonstrations in the wake of the
Kent State shootings worked to form Greater Rochester Fights Back, an anti-drug advocacy group, and served on the board of trustees of both
Nazareth College and
Monroe Savings Bank. and the Paul A. and Francena L. Miller Presidential Scholarship at WVU in 2006. == Personal life ==