Bruce Miller (soil scientist)

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Bruce Miller

OBE
Born
Ronald Bruce Miller

(1922-10-19)19 October 1922
Kaikōura, New Zealand
Died23 January 2022(2022-01-23) (aged 99)
Waikanae, New Zealand
Spouse(s)
Nina Rae McLaughlin
​
(m. 1955)​
Children4
Scientific career
FieldsSoil chemistry
InstitutionsSoil Bureau

Ronald Bruce Miller OBE (19 October 1922 – 23 January 2022) was a New Zealand soil chemist and scientific administrator. He rose to become director of the Soil Bureau in 1973, and later served as chief director of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Early life and family[]

Born in Kaikōura on 19 October 1922, Miller was the son of Ronald Miller, a Presbyterian minister, and Jessie Miller (née McGregor).[1][2] He was educated at Manaia District High School in South Taranaki and Palmerston North Boys' High School, and went on to study at the University of Otago, graduating Master of Science with third-class honours in 1945, and Victoria University College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949.[1][3] He undertook postgraduate study at the Royal Agricultural College in Sweden.[1]

On 26 February 1955, Miller married Nina Rae McLaughlin, and the couple went on to have four children.[1]

Career[]

Miller was a soil scientist at the Soil Bureau from 1945, rising to become a section leader in 1971, and director in 1973.[1] He later served as chief director of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1984 New Year Honours.[4]

From 1968 to 1969, Miller was an André Meyer Fellow at the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. He served on the council of the New Zealand Society of Soil Science from 1953 to 1974, and was president of the organisation from 1966 to 1968. He was a council member of the International Society of Soil Science in 1974, and was a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry.[1]

Miller died in Waikanae on 23 January 2022, at the age of 99.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Traue, J. E., ed. (1978). Who's Who in New Zealand (11th ed.). Wellington: Reed. p. 196. ISBN 0-589-01113-8.
  2. ^ "Register of New Zealand Presbyterian Church – ministers, deaconesses & missionaries from 1840: Mathew to Miller-Keeley". Presbyterian Research Centre. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  3. ^ "NZ university graduates 1870–1961: Me–Mo". Shadows of Times. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  4. ^ "No. 49584". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 31 December 1983. p. 34.
  5. ^ "Ronald Miller obituary". Dominion Post. 29 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
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