New McCombs Award Honors Herb Miller

Professional Faculty Impact Award recognizes exceptional contributions of teaching, service, and mentorship.

Associate Professor of Instruction Herb Miller is the namesake and the first recipient of the new McCombs School of Business Marketing Department Herbert A. Miller Jr. Professional Faculty Impact Award.

The award was made possible by William Cunningham, who served as McCombs dean, UT Austin president, and University of Texas System chancellor, as a way to recognize and honor the professional faculty in the department of marketing.

“In particular, he had faculty like Herb Miller in mind, who make significant long-term contributions to the department and the school, through teaching, service, and mentorship, but for whom recognition was sparse,” said Professor Andrew Gershoff, marketing department chair.

Miller joined the business school as an IBM Executive Faculty fellow and has been a professional faculty member in marketing since 1984. He developed a program to recruit and support historically underrepresented minority students toward graduation in the MBA program and served as an assistant dean in the undergraduate program.

During his 39 years teaching multiple courses, Miller has had an impact on more than 20,000 students. He serves as the faculty liaison for the new Texas Undergraduate Sales Association and he also develops and maintains personal mentoring relationships with countless undergraduate students.

Miller has been a contributor to the school’s executive education programs, teaching custom sales courses for The Summers Group, Dell, IBM, and Blue Bell Ice Cream.

“I want to publicly thank Dr. William (Bill) Cunningham for his generosity and foresight in creating the Herbert A. Miller Jr. Professional Faculty Impact Award,” said Miller. “The award acknowledges the immense contributions of non-tenure-track faculty. This is the first award that is available to the many qualified associate professors of instruction, assistant professors of instruction, and professors of instruction who are consistently making a difference in the classroom and in the larger community. It is gratifying that each year, a deserving faculty member will be given this award for impactful service and teaching.”

“We are grateful to Herb for all he does for our students, the department, the school, and the broader community,” said Gershoff.

Story by Maureen Balleza