Dr. Milton E. Muelder

Dr. Milton E. Muelder Former Michigan State University vice president for Research and dean of the Graduate School passed away on May 6 at the age of 101. Milton was married to Kathleen Dietrich in 1939, who received her PhD in biochemistry and nutrition at the University of Minnesota. Born in Boody, Illinois to Rev. Dr. Epke H Muelder and Minnie Horlitz Muelder, Milton was the third oldest of four boys and three girls. The three older boys were listed in Who's Who in America, each with the PhD, each with a Phi Beta Kappa key, and each having completed studies in the humanities. A younger brother was completing his work for a PhD in the sciences when he contracted bronchial TB and could not overcome the disease. Two of the sisters earned degrees in the humanities and the youngest took up the profession of her mother as a nurse. Milton's education career followed a bachelor's degree in European history, Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. He studied at the University of Freiburg. He was awarded with a doctorate in 1932 in European history with a cognate in German literature. He was awarded a master's degree in International Administration, Columbia University, 1943. He holds honorary degrees from Knox College; the University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, which he helped establish and Michigan State University. His association with MSU covered eight decades. His broad experience in administration followed an outstanding career with the U.S. military. During WWII he served the U.S. Army from 1944-49. Thanks to his expertise in European history and German affairs, he was able to prepare "Project Carpet,"which determined the organization of military government operations in the U.S. military zone in Germany. For that effort the Army awarded him one of its favored honors: the Legion of Merit. During the Russian blockade of Berlin, 1947-48, he was successful in helping establish the Free University of Berlin. At Michigan State, he headed the new Department of Political Science and Public Administration, followed by being dean of all the Sciences and the Arts, and his appointment as vice president for Research and dean of the Graduate School, the first position of its kind in the academic world. At times of difficulties, in crisis situations, he was asked to take on the position of vice president for Student Services a nd later as director of Intemational Programs, in addition to his duties in Research Development for the university and the Graduate School. Muelder played a major role in the acquisition of Phi Beta Kappa for MSU. For his work in Okinawa, Japan on behalf of the new University of the Ryukyus, he received a letter of highest praise from Major General C.K. Gailey. In the mid 1970s, after his retirement from MSU but still endowed with a sense of mission, Muelder accepted an offer as Vice President of University Associates, Washington-based consulting firm in higher education. The firm was headed by former University of Alabama president Frank Rose and former U .S. Surgeon General Luther Terry, and its prime focus of the firm was technical assistance to colleges and universities funded under the Higher Education of 1965 Act for Strengthening Developing Institutions in America. A substantial number of the institutions were Historically Black Colleges and Universities, some of whom objected to being categorized as "developing." According to Walter Brown a senior consultant with the firm, Muelder helped the grantee institutions as well as officials in the US Office of Education to focus on "Strengthening" to the end that the institutions were better able to achieve their mission and goals with these resources than they would have been without them. In 1997 he began a program of philanthropy to motivate and assist in the arts, humanities, sciences, and athletics. Special mention would include establishment of the Summer Carillon Concert Series featuring outstanding carillonneurs from throughout the world. His love of reading and study remained active, despite physical handicaps which required assistance from his wife in attending football and basketball games and Wharton Center events in a wheelchair. Among other things for which Muelder will be remembered by his statement that, "MSU has a wonderful unfinished quality, looking to the future, not the past, for its finest hour; more concerned how new ventures of the human spirit and intellect can be expressed and how new dimensions of public service and concerns can be articulated. Hopefully, it will never lose this-wonderful unfinished quality." Milton was preceded by his first wife Kathleen Muelder; three brothers, Hermann, Walter and Oliver, and by his two sisters Edna Davis and Florence Smith. He will be greatly missed by his surviving wife Beth Schwartz, his sister Ruth Stank and all of his nieces and nephews. Contributions may be made in memory of Milton E. Muelder to: Michigan State University to benefit the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities Empowerment Fund. Send to: MSU, University Advancement, 300 Spartan Way, East Lansing, MI 48824-1005.