Dr. Minnie Miles, Legendary UA Professor, Dies at Age 91

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — When the legendary Dr. Minnie Caddell Miles, a University of Alabama fixture since 1942, died Sunday, Nov. 4, at age 91, she left behind a long and impressive legacy of women’s rights, equality for all and unbridled generosity.

That legacy was captured on her 90th birthday when a resolution from The University of Alabama Board of Trustees was presented to Miles, which said in part, “In these ninety years, this soft-spoken, determined, and influential leader, humanitarian, and teacher has affected the lives of decades of University of Alabama students and of women regionally, nationally, and internationally. Her perseverance in pursuing her own education allowed her to break through gender barriers, exert the leadership to make a difference in many lives, and to become one of the University’s most generous supporters.”

Vivian Malone Jones, the first African-American graduate of the University, said Miles was a constant source of support and inspiration.

“She acted as a mentor when I was there; she offered me guidance, assistance and help when others did not feel comfortable in doing so,” Jones said. Miles should be remembered as a “kind, generous and caring person who was willing to step out and take a stand when it wasn’t popular to do so,” she said.

Dr. J. Barry Mason, dean of the UA Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, said Miles would be remembered as “as a tireless leader in the effort to achieve equality in the workplace. We are deeply honored that she spent 36 years of her career as a professor in the College of Commerce where she was an inspiration to students and faculty alike.”

Miles was born in Glen Allen, Ala. She received her diploma in elementary education from Florence State Normal School (now the University of North Alabama) in 1928. She then went to Texas to earn her bachelor’s degree in 1936 from Mary Hardin-Baylor College in general business, an area dominated by men. She earned a master’s degree in personnel management from Northwestern University in 1942 during World War II when women filled a vacuum left by the men who went overseas.

Despite the dean’s admonition that “we don’t encourage women to come into our program,” she earned her doctoral degree in industrial psychology at Purdue University and embarked on a long career of advancing the rights and careers of the nation’s women.

In 1962 she traveled to Los Angeles where she became president of the Federation of Business and Professional Women, and when President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, Miles stood at his left shoulder.

That same year U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara appointed her to the Defense Committee on Women in the Services, and during her tenure on the committee, a bill removing restrictions on promoting women in the military was approved by Congress.

Miles began her lifetime of service to and support of The University of Alabama in 1942 as an instructor, moving up to an associate professor of management before she retired in 1978. She received the National Alumni Association’s Outstanding Commitment to Teaching award in 1977.

In 1976 Miles established one of the University’s earliest annuity trusts, which was used to help meet financial needs in the College of Commerce and Business Administration. Throughout her life Miles supported the Capstone by creating or supporting various scholarships and endowments, including the Minnie C. Miles Human Resources Management Endowed Graduate Scholarship, the Minnie Caddell Miles Commerce and Business Professorship, the Minnie C. Miles-Frank A. Rose Memorial Endowed C&BA Professorship of Leadership, the Minnie C. Miles Endowed Graduate Scholarship in the Manderson Graduate School of Business, and the Minnie C. Miles Endowed Excellence Award that rewards administrative excellence.

After her retirement from the University, she was named Professor Emerita of Organizational Behavior in the business school.