A Surgeon and a FatherThe A. Merrill Miller, MD, Scholarship Fund When Jan Stipp describes her father, her eyes light up and her face looks much younger than her 94 years. She describes him as an austere and distinguished looking man with a wonderful sense of humor, displaying her pride in a way that this modest man would likely never have done. With his accomplishments in mind, Mrs. Stipp made a planned gift to endow a scholarship at the Feinberg School of Medicine, in memory of her father, Medical School alumnus, A. Merrill Miller, MD, Class of 1901. Through her gift and in sharing his story, she honors both a surgeon and a father.  | A. Merrill Miller, MD, Class of 1901 |
Mrs. Stipp describes her father as coming from the “poorest poor you can imagine.” Born in Piper City, Illinois, he worked from a very young age to help support his family. Upon deciding that he wanted to be a doctor, he left home and went to live with and work for a doctor in a neighboring town in order to make his way. While helping care for the doctor’s animals, he hoped to finish his education and learn enough to be accepted to medical school. According to Mrs. Stipp, Dr. Miller always knew he wanted to attend Northwestern University. Without any financial support, he worked and saved his way through school, lighting street lamps and sleeping in sympathetic professors’ offices to save on rent. When it came time for graduation, however, one final obstacle stood in his way. He had passed his tests and finished his courses, but he did not own a suit to wear to the graduation ceremony—a requirement of the school at that time. Luckily, his fellow students and faculty recognized this difficulty, and joined together to provide Dr. Miller with the money necessary to buy a suit to celebrate his graduation. Growing up in Danville, Illinois with her parents and brother, Mrs. Stipp remembers her father being a humble man who preferred not to speak of his ability. Yet Dr. Miller was prominent in the area, during a time when much cynicism still surrounded surgery. After graduating from Northwestern, he completed his internship at Michael Reese Hospital and went on to study surgery at Harvard University. Surgery was always his love, and although he would rarely acknowledge it, he felt that he had a gift, a “sixth sense” to determine when surgery was a good treatment option for a patient. He described his complex work quite simply, saying he was “in somebody’s belly” when in the operating room. A renowned clinician and researcher, he published in the Annals of Surgery, the world’s most highly referenced, and one of the nation’s oldest, surgery journals. Dr. Miller was also President of the Vermillion County Medical Society, a member of the Illinois State Medical Society and American Medical Association, and a charter member of the American College of Surgeons. A devoted family man, Dr. Miller was close with his only daughter. As a physician, he delivered her into the world. And, from day one they shared a unique bond. She said that “he could read me like a book, and I could read him, too.” In one of many particularly charming memories, Mrs. Stipp recalls waiting eagerly for her father to arrive home from long days in the operating room. He would walk through the door and say “Dance with me, sweet,” leading her across the floor to a song on the radio. They would dance and dance until, as Mrs. Stipp remembers, “You could see the worry drain from his face.” When asked what Dr. Miller would think of her gift, Mrs. Stipp responded, “I think he would be thrilled with this scholarship. He had such a tough time. Now, more students can have the chance that he didn’t.” Through a bequest and charitable remainder trust to the Feinberg School of Medicine, she has established this endowed scholarship to be held in perpetuity. Without thought of recognition for herself, Mrs. Stipp is passing on her father’s legacy forever to the most deserving beneficiaries, realizing her hope to “make medical school easier for somebody who can do it and wants the chance.”Photo courtesy of Special Collections, Galter Health Sciences Library | 
