G. David Miller Fund to Support International Community Economic Development

This endowment was created in honor of G. David Miller (1941-2022), who was an expert in the field of international community economic development. In the course of his fifty-five-year career, he taught hundreds of students, planned and directed major projects for the U.S. government and private sector agencies, wrote theoretical articles on development practice and produced literary pieces that amused and entertained his friends and family. David was a “curious man” who travelled the world for work and adventure. He exuded joy and embraced varieties of human experience – the outrageous, the hypothetical and the absurd – while sending his light in every direction.

David was a writer and a raconteur who enjoyed retelling tales of his travels and strange encounters to anyone who would listen. His children, grandchildren, colleagues, students, friends and critics soaked up his enthusiasm and worldly wisdom. During his twelve years at UC Davis, he spread his gifts for innovation far and wide, building partnerships with International Agriculture Development (IAD), Plant Sciences, Global Fellowships for Agricultural Development and Global Affairs, to name only a few of his cooperative ventures. His life and work were dedicated to finding places where targeted interventions would make a difference in ordinary people’s lives. Women’s savings groups, small farmer cooperatives, initiatives for peace projects in the Middle East, are all present in his expansive portfolio.

The G. David Miller Fund to Support International Community Economic Development will provide a means for keeping that impulse for creativity alive. The purpose of the Fund is to financially assist graduate students at UC Davis who are engaged in innovative research and projects intended to foster economic and social development at the community level around the world. This endowed Fund will be a living memorial to G. David Miller’s optimism, exuberance and passionate search for ways to improve the life chances for those who deserve it most.