Page 46 - January 2007

National News
Elaine Moran
Acoustical Society of America Melville, New York 11747
Applied Science. Miller joined the Washington University faculty in 1970 as assistant professor of physics. Since the early 1970s, he has led a team of investigators who have focused on using ultrasound to determine the physics of normal and diseased hearts.
Professor Miller’s research focuses on the physics of anisotropic, inherently inhomogeneous media. These systematic studies of the anisotropic properties of the heart have led to fundamentally new insights. In 1998 the National Institutes of Health grant supporting this research was awarded MERIT status, which is designed to “provide long-term, stable support to investigators whose research competence and productivity are dis- tinctly superior, and who are likely to continue to perform in an outstanding manner.” This research has provided the basis for significantly improved diagnostic images of the hearts of patients and has been incorporated into commercially available echocar- diographic imagers in widespread use throughout the world. Current investi- gations include studies of heart and bone as well as the physics underlying nonlinear ultrasonic propagation and the consequences on generalized dis- persion relations of requirements of causality.
Miller received a B.A. in physics from Saint Louis University and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from Washington University in St. Louis. He is the author of more than 165 manu- scripts in critically reviewed journals; more than 95 chapters in books, review articles and conference proceedings; and more than 205 abstracts of talks presented at national and international meetings.
James Miller was named a Fellow of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine in 1986, a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America in 1990, a Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic
Engineers in 1998, and a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering in 2000.
In 2004, the Acoustical Society of America awarded Miller the Silver Medal in Biomedical Ultrasound/ Bioresponse to Vibration “for contribu- tions to ultrasonic tissue characteriza- tion and quantitative echocardiogra- phy.” Among other honors, Miller was the recipient of two Industrial Research and Development IR-100 awards and served as a Sigma Xi National Lecturer. Miller has been a mentor to 32 doctoral and post-doctoral students in ultrasonic physics, many of whom have gone on to prominent careers. He received the Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award from the Emerson Electric Co. in 2004. In addition, over the last three decades Miller has guided cardiology fellows from the Washington University School of Medicine through the physics under- pinning echocardiography. Each spring, Miller teaches a widely acclaimed undergraduate course titled “Physics of the Heart,” for which he received the Council of Students of Arts and Sciences Teaching Award in 1990.
James E. West awarded honorary degree by Michigan State University James E. West, a research professor of electrical and computer engineering at Johns Hopkins University, was awarded an Honorary Doctors Degree in Engineering from Michigan State University on December 9, 2006. He was cited for his invention, with Gerhard Sessler, of the electret micro- phone, for his creation of programs that encourage minorities and women to consider technology careers, and for the development of the Cooperative Research Fellowship Program for minority doctoral students at Bell Labs. More than 250 doctorates were award- ed to underrepresented minorities
through his program.
During his 40-year career, West
has earned more than 200 U.S. and for-
James G. Miller
James G. Miller receives Achievement Award
James G. Miller has been named the recipient of the Achievement Award of the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society “for his outstanding contribu- tions to ultrasonic tissue characteriza- tion and echocardiography.” The award was presented during the IEEE's International Ultrasonics Symposium, held October 3-6, 2006, in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Achievement Award is the highest Society-wide award presented to a member of the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society in special recognition of out- standing contributions. Selection crite- ria include significant technical publi- cations in the field of ultrasonics, ferro- electrics, or frequency control, as well as contributions to these technical fields, and service to the Society. The award consists of an honorarium of $2,000, a plaque and a certificate.
James G. Miller is the Albert Gordon Hill Professor of Physics and director of the Laboratory for Ultrasonics in the Department of Physics in Arts and Sciences. He also holds joint appointments as professor of medicine in the School of Medicine and professor of biomedical engineer- ing in the School of Engineering and
44 Acoustics Today, January 2007