Rick Miller has led an extraordinary life.
The 65-year-old Marblehead resident is one of the greatest soccer goaltenders in Bentley University history, a record breaking Hall of Famer who excelled while dealing with a form of type-1 diabetes.
Miller has an MBA, has written both a book on business leadership as well as a children’s book, is the President and CEO of his own company, is a cancer survivor, has worked with veterans and children, is a leadership coach and an adjunct professor at his alma mater, a business advisor, and is involved in and contributes to numerous charitable organizations.
Now he’s been recognized for his life’s work.
Miller was recently honored by the College Sports Communicators as one of its Academic All-America Hall of Fame inductees for the Class of 2023. While the recipients are all former Academic All-Americans who graduated a decade or more ago, the award is given to those rare few who have achieved tremendous success in their personal careers and are committed to philanthropic causes.
Former professional athletes, servicemen and women, judges, scientists, a Supreme Court Justice, and those with doctorates across a plethora of fields are among those in this ultra-exclusive club, which boasts just 170 members. John Wooden, Julie Foudy, Ken Dryden, Bill Walton, Rebecca Lobo, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Danny Ainge and Angela Ruggerio are just some of the notable athletes who have earned membership.
“I’m still blown away,” Miller said after returning from last month’s ceremony in Orlando, where he was honored along with fellow Class of 2023 members Andrew Cain, a former college pitcher at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana who captained one of only 71 nuclear submarines in the US Naval fleet; Kevin Warren, a 1,000 point scorer in basketball at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix who became commissioner of the Big Ten and now the president and CEO of the Chicago Bears; and Lindsay Whalen, a three-time All-American for the University of Minnesota women’s basketball team who led her team to the 2004 Final Four, went on to play in the WNBA and is now the Gophers’ head coach.
“I’m in the Bentley Hall of Fame for soccer, but I got selected for this one because of my next 40 years of work,” Miller added. “Put in those terms, it feels like a lifetime achievement.”
Success and discovery at Bentley
Miller said he “became very humble” after being informed about the award and reading up on it before going to the ceremony in Orlando.
He began his soccer career in the late 1960s in his hometown of Marlboro, picking glass out of the rocks and dirt so that he and his team could play on their home field. A relatively new sport in town, he and his classmates jelled quickly, and as the team’s goaltender he allowed just one goal in 10 games as a junior, piloting them to their first-ever state tournament berth.
Under the direction of head coach John Ludgate they went even further Miller’s senior year, winning the inaugural Central Mass. championship, upsetting Belmont (1-0) in the state semifinals and reaching the final. Miller didn’t give up a single goal until the championship match.
Miller believed that defense is a team effort and that “the best save I’ll ever make is the shot that isn’t taken”. He constantly communicated with his defensive mates, helping put them in the right spots before potentially dangerous offensive chances materialized.
Contacted by Bentley — whose soccer program had made the NCAA tournament the previous year in just its fourth season of existence but which allowed 2 1/2 goals a game — Miller was attracted not only by the chance to play college soccer, but also by its business and liberal arts focus.
During his freshman year the Falcons set a school record for fewest goals against; by his sophomore year they gave up fewer goals than any other team in the NCAA (Divisions 1, 2 and 3). Miller, who gave up just three goals all season, was named All-New England.
But a difficult junior year — his mother’s health declined, some family members passed away suddenly, as did a close friend at Bentley — caused Miller to drop 20 pounds and, he admittedly said, “I wasn’t myself.” After the season he was diagnosed with diabetes and subsequently learned how to manage the disease; he’s since given himself four shots a day for the last 44 years, sticking with that works for him.
“I have to balance my sleep, stress, the food I eat, the calories and exercise I have,” he said. “And I learned how to talk about it. I was amazed at what I had been taught; the group sessions we’d have at Joslin (Diabetes Center) made all the difference to me.”
A lifetime of being taught
Miller promised himself he’d volunteer at Joslin Diabetes Camp for Kids and Children during the summer, and was able to do so 20 years later. He went on to join the Board of Trustees there, helping to raise a lot of money as well as equipment for their gym.
“Some might look at these kids there as victims, but I look at them as teachers and what they help teach,” said Miller, who also went on to work with the Barton Center for Diabetes in Springfield. “Everyone is a student teacher who can teach you something if you choose to look for it.”
Miller’s philanthropy didn’t end there. Wanting to connect with kids, he worked at a local rehab hospital by first cleaning toilets and the rec room before moving into the pool to help stretch out patients with cerebral palsy. These children, too, were ‘teachers’ for him
“There was a 6-year-old there, let’s call her Melissa, whose goal was to extend both of her arms to grab a Nerf basketball and put it through the hoop in the pool,” Miller recalled. “We worked for months on this, and she taught me more about success than anyone I’ve ever met.”
His book on leadership, “Be Chief: It’s a Choice, Not a Title” is about how anyone can assume a leadership role. Proceeds from the tome go to Easter Seals. His book on children’s leadership, “Casey’s Kite”, has its proceeds sent to Boston-based Family Research.
Having worked for hardware, softball and teleconference firms, Miller — who got married a year ago to Shelli Vandemark (together they have five children) —has been focused on both the supply of, and applying, technology in his professional life. He’s currently the President and CEO of Being Chief LLC, which he’s run for the last decade-and-a-half.
His adjunct professor leadership work at Bentley, which he said has “always been about ethics and inclusion, plus doing things with integrity” rounds out his extensive list of projects that Miller passionate about.
He’s been a force in business, a force in his community, a philanthropic force and a Hall of Fame career on the pitch at Bentley. You can see why Miller was chosen for this Academic All-American Hall of Fame honor.
Contact Phil Stacey
@PhilStacey_SN
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