Charles
Miller
Class of 1996
Background:
"Chuck" or "C.O." as he is more generally
known, was born in 1924 and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.,
the last of six sons to Richard C. and Mildred B. Miller.
A multi-sport varsity athlete and president of his high school's
National Honor Society, he enlisted in the Navy's aviation
cadet program on his 18th birthday. He subsequently became
a Marine Corps nightfighter pilot during World War II. His
university level education includes a B.S. in Aeronautical
Engineering from M.I.T. (1949), an M.S. in Systems Management
from U.S.C. (1967) and J.D. from the Potomac School of Law
(1980).
Professional
Experience:
Upon graduation from M.I.T., he became a flight test engineer
with the Douglas Aircraft Company at Muroc (now Edwards) Air
Force Base, assigned to the D-558-II "Skyrocket"
research project. Fourteen months later, he became a test
pilot with the Chance Vought Aircraft Corp. (CVA) developing
guidance systems and "flying" the world's first
operational cruise missile, "Regulus", from single
and two-place aircraft, from the ground and from submarines.
In late 1953, he became the staff engineer, Cockpit Design
and Flight Safety at CVA; later to supervise the company's
reliability, maintainability and human factors engineering
in addition to his being its chief flight safety engineering
official (among the first in this capacity in the aerospace
industry). Specific safety positions were subsequently occupied:
special assistant to the director, Flight Safety Foundation
(1962-63), lecturer and director of research at U.S.C.'s Aerospace
Safety Institute (1963-68), director of the Bureau of Aviation
Safety of the National Transportation Safety Board (1968-74),
president and principal consultant of System Safety Inc. (1974-93).
Consultant clients included government agencies in the U.S.
and abroad, airlines, manufacturers, trade associations, attorneys,
and congressional committees. He wrote approximately 125 professional
papers and two books. He lectured frequently internationally
and taught courses at George Washington University and Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University (ERAU) and U.S.C.
Career
Highlights:
Dr. Miller was best known for his interdisciplinary and systems
approach to accident prevention. For example, he was a principal
developer of the "Advanced Safety Management" course
at U.S.C. in the mid-1960s which later evolved into "System
Safety" courses taught there and elsewhere. He was granted
the prestigious "Fellow" ranking by four major technical
societies: the American Institute of Aeronautics (AIAA), the
Human Factors Society (HFS), the International Society of
Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) and the System Safety Society
(SSS). He held numerous positions in these and other groups
(e.g., charter member and second president of the System Safety
Society, principal author of the Code of Ethics and Conduct
for ISASI, the first chairman of ERAU's advisory committee
for their Center for Aerospace Safety Education (CASE). He
was retained by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in its inquiry
into the Three Mile Island accident wherein he authored one
of their final reports' main chapters dealing with safety
management. He received other awards in addition to those
"Fellow" rankings noted. These included election
to the International Safety Academy at its inception in 1971,
the Flight Safety Foundation Distinguished Service Award in
1971, Aviation Week and Space Technology's "Laurels for
1974", for his role in the Congress's increasing NTSB's
independence from the DOT), the Space and Flight Equipment
(SAFE) society's 1992 Spruance award for "Outstanding
contributions to safety through education" and induction
into the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame located at Tucson's
Pima Air Museum in 1993.
