Biographical Note: Norman N. Miller (1933- ) is one of America’s early African specialists, living in Kenya and Tanzania intermittently since 1960, first as a correspondent, then as a university teacher, researcher, documentary filmmaker, and adviser to African governments and two United Nations agencies. He has written or edited seven books and dozens of articles on topics such as East African political history, African wildlife management, HIV/AIDS policy, and traditional medicine. As a documentary filmmaker, he produced the Faces of Change, a National Science Foundation-funded series of twenty-six films that includes five films on Kenya. He has also led development projects for the UNDP, WHO, UNAIDS, and UNEP. Miller is the president of the African-Caribbean Institute, a UN- and Ford Foundation-supported research organization. He holds a PhD from Indiana University in political science and African studies, and a certificate in Swahili from UCLA. He is professor emeritus at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, having taught there part-time since 1980. He is married to Judith von D. Miller, author of Art in East Africa. They make their home in Norwich, Vermont.

 

Professional Resume 

Education: BA (DePauw University, Economics and English,1956); MA (Indiana University, Journalism, 1962); PhD (Indiana University, Political Science and African Studies, 1967). Certificate in Swahili (UCLA, 1963).

Experience: United States Air Force (1956-1959), Highest rank, Captain; Correspondent, Asia and Africa (1959-1960); Graduate Fellow, Indiana University (1960-1963); PhD Research Fellow, East Africa (1964-1966); Indiana University Fellow (1966). Assistant Professor, Michigan State University (1966-1969); Associate Professor, Michigan State University (1969-1971). Founder and Editor, Rural Africana (1967-1971); Correspondent for East Africa, American Universities Field Staff (1969-1985); Director, Documentary Film Project, AUFS (1972-1978); Professor, Research Professor, Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School (1978-2016); Adjunct Professor, Dartmouth Department of Anthropology (1982); Adjunct Professor, Dartmouth Department of Environmental Studies (1981-2012); President, African-Caribbean Institute, 1983-present; Founder and Editor, AIDS and Society (1988-1994); Director and Co-Director, Civil Military Alliance to Combat HIV/AIDS (1992-2000); Advisor, United Nations (UNEP, UNAIDS, WHO, 1990-2005); Professor Emeritus, Dartmouth Medical School, 2017-present.

Honors and Awards: Research and teaching fellowships, Indiana University (1960-1966), faculty grants, Michigan State University (1967-1969). Teaching citation, MSU, 1968. Twenty field research grants, contracts, and project awards (National Science Foundation, Ford Foundation, UNDP, WHO, UNAIDS, UNEP, USAID, USDoD, et al.,1967-2002).

Publications: 7 books, 90 articles and papers on African politics, rural politics, pedestrian societies, rural development, wildlife management, traditional healing, cross-cultural medicine, HIV/AIDS policy, HIV/AIDS in world military, witchcraft, witchcraft violence, human rights, visual evidence, ethnographic film

Films: Produced/directed 28 educational documentary films funded by the National Science Foundation, USAID, International Planned Parenthood Federation, and Food and Agriculture Organization (UN). Topics: anthropology, agriculture, development, women, education, socialization, religion/beliefs, human adaptation, population issues.

(see full Miller Bibliography).

Background: Born, Rochester, Minnesota, 1933; schooled Mexico City, Arlington, Virginia. Married: Judith von Daler, 1973, in Nairobi, Kenya. Children: Scott Kellogg Miller, Amy Victoria Miller Eberhardt. Resident, Norwich, Vermont.

Family

Judith von D. Miller

Norman Miller’s wife Judith is the author of “Art in East Africa: Contemporary Guide to East African Art” (TBS, 1975). They make their home in Norwich, Vermont.

Scott Kellogg Miller and Lindsay McClure Miller

The author’s son Scott and his wife Lindsay are co-founders of World Story Exchange. World Story Exchange partners with schools and educational organizations to offer documentary storytelling workshops to youth ages 7-23. They travel the world giving workshops that invite students to explore their lives, their dreams, and their concerns, while finding their creative voice using a variety of media tools and artistic approaches. They teach photography, filmmaking, writing, painting and drawing — all from a documentary perspective with ethnographic ethics.

Amy Miller Eberhardt and Thomas Raszmann Eberhardt

The author’s daughter Amy also did research in East Africa, visiting in 2005 some of the same villages that Miller worked in, finding some of the same families and asking some of the same questions that he had in his original field research. Amy’s findings are reported in the Leadership Survey. 

Amy works as a high school history and English teacher and Tom works as a high school counselor. They make their home in Vermont with their young son.