Roberta and Don Miller Embrace Creative Giving to Create a Legacy
Roberta and Don Miller are strong believers in education and greatly value the impact of higher education on their lives. A native of Kentucky, Roberta began her studies as an undergrad at Murray State University and earned a Master’s of Library Science and a Doctor of Education Degree at Vanderbilt University. Don is a native Virginian who earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Virginia Tech and both the Master’s and Doctor of Education degrees from Vanderbilt University.
Roberta began her career as a medical librarian and was part of health care teams at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, University of Kentucky and the University of Virginia Medical Center. Following their wedding in 1968 and moving to Richmond, she served as the Director of Henrico County Public Libraries during a time of tremendous growth in the county. Roberta served as Assistant State Librarian (now the Library of Virginia) before striking out on her own in the late 1970’s.
As a medical librarian, Roberta identified a growing need to provide scholarly research services for private medical practices and hospitals. As a result of the market analysis, Resources, Inc. was created and has operated continuously for over 40 years. Don joined her in the business following his service as Deputy Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
True lifelong learners, the Millers completed a program at Union Presbyterian Seminary to become lay pastors. Presently, they enjoy their pulpit supply roles while living at Westminster Canterbury in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Thankful for the opportunities that education has afforded them, the Millers believe in giving back to educational institutions so that others have growth opportunities, too. Roberta served on the campaign advisory committee of the Partners for Progress Campaign at VCU in the 1990’s. Through Roberta’s association with VCU, the Millers began giving to VCU Libraries and have been strong supporters over the years; especially, the Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences. The Millers have provided resources for the future continuing education of the librarians of the MCV Campus Library at VCU. They have made a gift of four Charitable Gift Annuities that will create The Miller Endowment.
Of the gifts, Roberta says “With the vast quantity of information available in the digital age, the role of a medical librarian has never been more essential for best patient outcomes. Don and I are pleased to assist the medical librarians on the MCV Campus of VCU to continue to grow and learn as their careers progress.”
The Miller Endowment will join the Staff Excellence Fund as one of two endowments at VCU Libraries that ensures libraries faculty and staff are best prepared to meet the needs of students, faculty and researchers.
Don emphasizes, “We really want to encourage others to consider this as a creative form of giving. It is a means to stabilize your income and offers some tax advantages. But the main thing is that it places our residual funds to benefit others in years ahead.”