It is with great sadness we share the news that Dr Roy Miller, former principal at Royal Holloway, has passed away.
Dr Roy Miller came to the Royal Holloway College in 1957 as a Demonstrator in Physics and PhD student in surfaces and thin films. After completing his PhD he joined the lecturing staff in 1960 and went on to hold a number of positions in the Department of Physics.
When male undergraduates were admitted in 1965, Dr Miller was appointed as the College's first Warden and led the development of the College residence and welfare system. He served on all of the College's main committees, the University Senate and Academic Council, becoming Vice-Principal in 1978 and then Principal at a critical time in 1981, when Lionel Butler sadly passed away while in office.
Dr Miller was instrumental in the merger with Bedford College and the foundation of Royal Holloway and Bedford New College in 1985, continuing thereafter to work in Physics and as Vice-Principal until his retirement in 1998.
In 2000, Dr Miller was appointed as an Honorary Fellow for his contributions to Physics, but also in recognition of his outstanding contribution to life at the university for over forty years, during which the university grew from an institution of 400 students to one of nearly 6000.
Dr Miller played an integral role in assuring the university's continued success and helped to lay the foundations for the institution it is today. News of his death will be met with sadness across our community and our collective thoughts are with his family at this time.
