Patricia Cox Miller, Distinguished Professor of Religion in Syracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences, has been appointed to the W. Earl Ledden Professorship in Religion, beginning with the 2002-03 academic year. The appointment was recently announced by College of Arts and Sciences Dean Cathryn R. Newton.
Miller, a faculty member of the Department of Religion for 25 years, has established and maintained an exemplary career as scholar, teacher and good citizen within her professional contexts. Her teaching and research interests are in classical and Greco-Roman antiquity, with special reference to Gnosticism, Neoplatonism and early Christianity.
"Professor Miller is one of our most gifted scholar/teachers," says Richard B. Pilgrim, associate professor and chair of the Department of Religion. "Her research and published work is a model of thoroughness and insight, and her teaching is a model of excellence."
Miller says she is honored to be appointed to a chaired position with such a distinguished past.
She is the author of three major books, "Biography in Late Antiquity: A Quest for the Holy Men" (University of California Press, 1983); "Dreams in Late Antiquity: Studies in the Imagination of a Culture: (Princeton University Press, 1994) and "The Poetry of Thought in Late Antiquity: Essays on Imagination and Religion" (Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2001). She is currently working on two books: "Women in Greek Patristic Sources" and a study of religion and aesthetics in late antiquity. Miller is also the author of numerous articles and is a sought after participant in major international, scholarly conferences.
Miller is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the North American Patristic Society (serving as president in 1996-97), the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies and the Society for the Arts, Religion and Contemporary Culture. She served as vice chair of the Council on Graduate Studies in Religion from 1997-99 and chair from 2000-02.
Within The College of Arts and Sciences, Miller has served as director of graduate studies for the Department of Religion (1992-99) and chair of the college's Humanities Council (2000-02).
Miller received a bachelor's degree cum laude from Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia, and a master's degree and a doctorate from the University of Chicago. She completed a year of special study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1983.
The Ledden Professorship dates back to an original endowment by the Syracuse Area Conference of the Methodist Church to Syracuse University in honor of Bishop W. Earl Ledden. The professorship has been held by such renowned members of the Department of Religion faculty as Harmon H. Bro (1958-1959), Howard Ham (1960-1966), Stanley R. Hopper (1968-1976), Michael Novak (1977-1979) and David L. Miller (1983-2001).
