Frederick S. Miller, a former DePaul University School of Music dean who established the school’s national reputation during his 21-year tenure by building a distinguished faculty, a highly talented student body and stronger community ties, died Feb. 1 at Evanston Hospital. Miller, 75, of Wilmette, succumbed to a terminal lung condition.

Miller served from 1975 to 1996 as the fourth dean of the music school, located on DePaul’s Lincoln Park Campus. Miller recruited renowned professional musicians and academics for its faculty and emphasized excellence in teaching and performance, which earned national prominence for the school. He increased the student applicant pool dramatically to encourage highly selective admission standards, establishing a consistent enrollment of 400 musically and academically gifted students.

Miller also opened the school’s doors to the community, founding the Community Music Division, a program of high-quality, non-credit music instruction for children and adults. He encouraged links between the School of Music and the city’s professional music organizations and enhanced the school’s annual schedule of more than 300 public performances showcasing student and faculty talent.

Donald Casey, who became dean of the school upon Miller’s retirement in June of 1996, remembered his predecessor as a warm and respected mentor, colleague and friend. “I’ve known Fred for a long while, starting from the day 40 years ago when he heard me play trumpet in my high school orchestra and waited backstage to recruit me to attend Northwestern University,” Casey said. “In later years, I followed him as assistant band director at Northwestern, and then as dean at DePaul. His friendship has been important to me. For DePaul, he is an enormously important figure. His work here helped make possible virtually all of what our school has become.”

School of Music Associate Dean Judy Bundra recalled how Miller helped nurture her advancement from music education professor to administrator. “Fred Miller was quintessential DePaul – visionary yet practical, strong but flexible, smart, funny, caring, and always ready with a story and a joke,” she said. “Because Fred lived in the next town, I often gave him rides home from work, and during those rides, I was enrolled in ‘Administration 101.’ He transformed DePaul, and he changed me. He was my mentor and friend, and I will never forget his kindness.”

Donald DeRoche, chair of performance studies and one of the faculty members hired by Miller, remembered the former dean as “an exceptional leader who had a clear vision of where he wanted us to go. He got all of us enthused about that vision, and made us feel like a team with a mission. We felt like we worked with him, not for him. He was a down to earth human being, who brought out those same qualities in all of us.”

Born in Lima, Ohio, Miller’s love of music led him to study the trombone. He served in the music branch of the U.S. Navy from 1948-1952, playing in a band unit stationed in Charleston, N.C. He later attended Northwestern University, where he completed an undergraduate bachelor’s degree in music education in 1957 and a master’s degree in music in 1958. Miller met his future wife, Florence Mistak, a fellow Northwestern student, at the university when her brother asked him to keep an eye on her. Together they reared two children, Jennifer and John.

During his nearly four decades in academia, Miller gained experience in all facets of music school administration and taught orchestration, conducting, music education, wind literature, brass research and performance. He began his teaching career as an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas, where he was a brass instructor and assistant band director from 1958-1963. He joined Northwestern’s music faculty in 1964 and progressed from associate professor to assistant dean to associate dean, serving in the latter position from 1972 until 1976. During this period, he earned his doctoral degree in music performance and literature from the University of Iowa in 1974.

Miller published numerous commercial compositions, and he enjoyed appearances as a clinician, soloist, adjudicator and guest conductor at concerts and music education events throughout the Midwest and South. He actively participated in music and education organizations, including the National Association of Schools of Music, serving as its president from 1991-1994; the Music Educators National Conference; the National Board of Regents of the Society of Pi Kappa Lambda; Phi Mu Alpha; and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. He served on the Illinois Board of Education from 1972-1974.

After retiring from DePaul, Miller served one term on the school board of New Trier Township High School and spent a year as interim chair of Southern Methodist University’s music program. As a gift to his grandchildren, he wrote a book about the family’s ancestry. He enjoyed traveling with his wife and racing his sailboat on Lake Michigan. As a lifelong Cubs baseball fan, he kept close tabs on the team’s standings. Miller turned 75 in December, and although his health was failing, he remained in good spirits and never lost his sense of humor.

One of Miller’s legacies is the Frederick Miller Scholarship Fund, established at the School of Music at his retirement from DePaul. The fund has raised more than $100,000 and has benefited 10 DePaul students to date.

Miller is survived by his wife, Florence, nee Mistak; daughter Jennifer (Hal) Greene; son John (Tracy) Miller; grandchildren Benjamin and Samuel Greene and Kate and Taylor Miller; niece Mary Miller and great-nieces Sadie and Katie Powell.

Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Feb. 3 at the William H. Scott Funeral Home, 1100 Greenleaf, Wilmette. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Feb. 11 at the DePaul School of Music Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that contributions be made to the Frederick Miller Endowed Scholarship c/o the DePaul University School of Music, 804 W. Belden Ave., Chicago, IL , 60614.

Photo of Fred Miller.