Arjay Miller

Arjay Miller, a former dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business who devoted his life to bridging the gap between the private sector and public good, died Nov. 3 in Woodside at age 101. He was born Rawley John Miller in 1916 on a farm in Nebraska. (He was dubbed “Arjay” by his sister, and it stuck.) He first rose to national prominence as the president of Ford Motor Co., where he was one of the 10 “whiz kids” who were hired as executives after World War II, out of the Air Force statistical branch. He rose through the ranks at Ford in the 1950s and ’60s, when the automobile industry was at its peak. He was president of the company for five years, and the company reported record sales and earnings. After his retirement in 1979, he remained engaged with the Stanford community. He regularly consulted with business school faculty, acted as a mentor to students and endowed the Frances and Arjay Miller Fellowship in Social Innovation to recognize two students each year. He was married to his wife, Frances, for 70 years, until her death in 2010. They met at UCLA, where she was his teacher. In addition to his son, Ken, Mr. Miller is survived by his daughter, Ann Olstad; three granddaughters; and six great-grandchildren.