John Miller, director of the NDSU Division of Fine Arts, recently received the 2009 North Dakota Music Educators Association Distinguished Service Award. The honor goes to one individual per year who demonstrates above and beyond what is required in the normal music classroom.

Miller, with his many years of teaching and inspiration, has distinguished himself on the local, state and regional levels. “John’s motivation of his music students and that of his colleagues at the collegiate level are what distinguished him above all others,” Randy Hall, North Dakota Music Educators Association president, said.

Before coming to NDSU in 1998, Miller’s career included faculty appointments in music theory and music technology at the University of North Dakota and Northwestern, DePaul and Eastern Illinois Universities, as well as experience as a commercial composer and arranger in Chicago.

Miller is active in the National Association of Schools of Music as regional chair, visiting accreditation evaluator and as an elected member of the Commission on Accreditation. He has served as president of the board of directors of the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra and vice president of the board of directors of the Fargo-Moorhead Opera.

His academic specialties include analysis of early music, counterpoint and pedagogical technology.