Arjay Miller

Arjay Miller (March 4, 1916 – November 3, 2017) was one of the ten Whiz Kids hired by Henry Ford II of the Ford Motor Company. He served as president of Ford Motor Company between 1963 and 1968, until he was abruptly fired by Henry Ford II. He then went on to become the dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Early life Rawley John Miller Jr. was born on March 4, 1916, to Rawley John Miller and Mary Gertrude Miller in Shelby, Nebraska. The youngest of eight children, he adopted the name Arjay from his sister, who nicknamed him after the first and second initials of his father, Rawley John. He graduated from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a Bachelor of Science degree in banking and finance in 1937. After UCLA, he enrolled as a graduate student at University of California, Berkeley in an economics program, but did not complete a dissertation.

Personal life Miller met Frances Fearing while attending UCLA and they got married in 1940. In 1968, Henry Ford II abruptly named Semon Knudsen as President and moved Miller to vice chairman, a role created for him. While dean, he is credited with establishing Stanford's Public Management Program in 1971. He was the founding chairman of the board and a life trustee of the Urban Institute.

Legacy Arjay Miller Scholars, an award at Stanford Graduate School of Business for the academically highest 10 percent of a graduating class Frances and Arjay Miller Prize in Social Innovation, a fellowship award given to students at Stanford Graduate School of Business Arjay and Frances Fearing Miller Chair in Public Policy, endowed chair at the Public Policy Institute of California Arjay Miller Michigan Arboretum, an attraction at the Ford World Headquarters