Portland State Magazine Winter 2017

20 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE WINTER 2017 K arl Miller was a World War II veteran, a Portland firefighter and the owner of a small construction company. A selfless, quiet leader, he was a man of few words who commanded respect when he did speak. He loved his community and family, and he was married for 65 years to Lorraine, the love of his life. Karl’s grandson, Rick Miller, started working for the family construction business when he was 13, but his grandfather insisted that he go to college before joining the company on a permanent basis. And so Miller attended University of Oregon in 1987 and then PSU, earning his MBA in 1991. He and his wife, Erika, have made a lead contribution of $9 million to Portland State’s re-envisioned School of Business Administration building—which has been named the Karl Miller Center, in honor of Rick Miller’s humble grandfather. The Millers’ gift, along with support from over 200 other donors, will more than double the size of the building, slated to open in fall 2017. A seventh-generation Oregonian whose great-great-grandfather came to Oregon in 1853, Miller founded the Avamere Group in 1995 when he acquired a skilled nursing facility in Hillsboro. Today, the Avamere Family of Companies is a large and diversified group of health care properties and services, including pharmaceuticals, home health care and hospice agencies, contract rehab therapy and senior housing. The company operates across 11 states and has nearly 10,000 employees. Miller is currently chairman of Avamere’s board. In 2010, he co-founded the venture capital firm Rogue Venture Partners, which focuses on investing in Oregon-based entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses. At PSU, Miller is vice-chair of the PSU Board of Trustees and serves as chair of the board’s finance committee. “Serving PSU is an honor for me,” he says of his involvement with the board as well as his contributions to the University. “The professors at PSU armed me with the tools to become a successful entrepreneur,” says Miller. He and his wife cite the pivotal role PSU plays in providing opportunities for Oregonians and note how “we all are responsible for supporting our community and the organizations that make our community better.” Miller also credits Scott Dawson, former dean of the School of Business, as well as Debbie Hutchins, a former development officer with University Advancement (now the PSU Foundation), for re-engaging him and his wife with PSU and for nurturing an authentic relationship. “They inspired us with the vision for what a state-of-the-art business school could do for so many PSU students to come.” He adds that President Wim Wiewel and his wife, Alice, played a significant role in ensuring that the new building was top- tier in its design and construction, something he believes his grandfather would have appreciated. A groundbreaking achievement Rick Miller MBA ’91 (second from left) and his wife, Erika, broke ground for the new Karl Miller Center with fundraising campaign co-chair Rob Miller (left, no relation) and President Wim Wiewel. Karl Miller, the grandfather of donor Rick Miller MBA ’91, is the namesake for the remodeled School of Business Administration building. T H E I M P A C T O F G I V I N G