Deceased February 27, 2021

View alumni profile (log in required)
Read obituary

In Memory

My father, Alan Miller, died on February 27, 2021, at the age of 99. He came to Amherst in 1938 to be greeted by the notorious hurricane of that year. He chose Amherst for all the usual reasons and loved it. He was the last survivor of his class, the oldest class. He lived in North most of his years, played his viola in the orchestra, was called “Inky” because he used to put his fountain pen in his mouth and made a number of friends to whom he stayed close throughout their lives. He also taught me and all members of the family every Amherst song, his favorite being “Paige’s Horse.” After graduation, he married the valedictorian from Mt. Holyoke, Barbara Brigham, and headed to NYU School of Medicine, paid for by the army. After his first marriage ended, he married Judy Immerman with whom he enjoyed a 50-plus year marriage before her death in 2017.

He met life with passionate energy as a physician, musician, public servant and a lover of literature and the arts. He had incisive intelligence, idealism and a lifelong commitment to working for a more just society. He enjoyed a very long and varied career in psychiatry and public health, including 20 years in the U.S. Public Health Service at the National Institute for Mental Health, 10 years as commissioner of the Department of Mental Hygiene for the State of New York and 10 years as the associate dean for Student Affairs at Albany Medical College. He gave time and leadership to WAMC, the regional public radio station in Albany and many other organizations. He was a violist, a sailor, an avid bicycle rider, a true egalitarian, a devoted father: a man always ready for the next adventure. He rode his bicycle from Albany to Amherst for his 40th reunion.

He leaves five children, three from his first marriage and two from his second, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. 

He also began a long tradition of attending Amherst College, that I hope will continue:

Two sons: Matthew ’68 and Dan ’85; two grandchildren (my kids): Katherine ’96 and Nathaniel ’01.

Matthew Miller ’68