May 20, 2011

Kenton R. Miller, a respected global leader in nature conservation and former associate professor at the School of Natural Resources from 1975-83, died earlier this month. Dr. Miller had recently retired as vice president for conservation and development at the World Resources Institute. A memorial service is May 26 in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Miller left SNR in 1983 to become director general at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and later chair of IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas. While at SNR, Dr. Miller pioneered the link between protected areas and compatible development, showing the link with people and their needs, according to the IUCN. He also pioneered the theory and practice of bioregional planning, stressing the need to plan and manage protected areas beyond their boundaries, and embedded in the landscape seascape.

He played a significant role in the design and implementation of three IUCN World Parks Congresses (1982, 1992 and 2003). Under the auspices of the World Resources Institute, he led the international cooperative effort to prepare the Global Biodiversity Strategy, contributed to the Global Biodiversity Assessment and played a significant role in the development of the Global Convention for the Conservation of Biological Diversity.

The memorial service is at All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington at 3 p.m. with a reception to follow. 

Condolence book at International Union for Conservation of Nature: http://iucn.org/?7460