Orlando Jack Miller

(1927 – 2024)
Orlando Jack Miller, M.D., Emeritus Professor of Molecular Medicine and Genetics at Wayne State University in Detroit, past president of the Academy of Scholars, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, died on November 3, 2024 in the Adler Hospice Center in Aldie, VA, surrounded by loved ones, at the age of 97. Jack was born on May 11, 1927 in Oklahoma City to Iduma Doris (Berry) Miller and Arthur Leroy Miller, and graduated from Central High School in 1943. He received B.S. and M.D. degrees at Yale, and had a four-year residency in obstetrics and gynecology there, after interning at St. Luke's Hospital in Oklahoma City and serving two years (1951-53) as a jump doctor in the U.S. Army's 11th Airborne Division.

Jack chose medical genetics as his area of research, and trained for it with Lionel Penrose at the Galton Laboratory in University College, London. Jack spent 26 years at Columbia University, where he became Professor of Human Genetics and Development and of Obstetrics and Gynecology. His primary focus was genetic research, which was continuously supported by grants from the March of Dimes, the NYC Health Research Council, the National Institutes of Health, and the American Cancer Society. He carried out studies on chromosome organization, evolution, and gene content, in addition to clinical studies focused on identifying causes of infertility and mental retardation. Jack served on the editorial boards of nine scientific journals and on research grant committees. He was associate editor of Cytogenetics and Cell Genetics, editorial board member of Human Genetics, associate editor of Genomics, and editorial board member of Chromosome Research. He served on many study sections, including the first chartered NIH Genome Study Section and other scientific advisory committees and was a member of the board of directors, vice‐president and president of the American Board of Medical Genetics. After leaving Columbia, he served as founding Chairman of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Wayne State University School of Medicine, where he spent 11 years. Jack published more than 250 scientific papers, many in leading journals such as Science, Nature, and Cell, and he co-wrote the fourth edition of Human Chromosomes. He traveled extensively professionally, including sabbaticals in Oxford with Henry Harris, Edinburgh with Adrian Bird, and Melbourne with Jenny Graves, as well as international conferences throughout the world. He is listed in Marquis Who's Who.

Jack helped usher in the new field of human cytogenetics, reporting the first cases of XXY‐ 21 trisomy and XXYY individuals with Down syndrome and Klinefelter syndrome while at University College, London (1959‐60), in collaboration with Charles Ford and Professor Penrose. Jack's demonstration (1968) of DNA replication asynchrony between homologous human autosome segments pointed towards functional differences between these segments. With Henry Harris at Oxford University, Jack used the newly discovered technique of somatic cell hybridization to obtain the first evidence (1969) for the existence of tumor suppressor genes. His research group was the first (1971) to assign any gene to a specific chromosome using interspecific somatic cell hybrids. He was the first to assign groups of linked genes to specific autosomes in a mammal (1971). He pioneered the use of antinucleoside antibodies to study DNA replication and chromosome organization (1971‐75). With Adrian Bird (1983), he cloned the first HTF islands, unmethylated CpG‐rich regions that mark the 5' end of genes and provide a powerful tool in searching for unknown genes. The novel mechanism of gene amplification in carcinogenesis John Cowell and Jack proposed (1983) was verified by other groups. Jack's research group was the first to use Caspersson's quinacrine fluorescence banding technique to study the chromosomes of mice, and Jack identified his best project as the discovery (1971) that each chromosome pair showed a distinctive banding pattern, making it possible for the first time to identify individual mouse chromosomes. This work opened the door to the development of mouse models of human diseases.

Jack and his wife Anne (Sandy) did research together until their retirement in 1996. They traveled widely, visiting more than 45 countries on all seven continents, and enjoyed conducting genealogical research excursions at home and abroad. They lived in Lansdowne Woods, Leesburg, VA, for 19 years, where Jack was active in the Library Chat Group and the Torch Club, and enjoyed walking outdoors, doing crossword and jigsaw puzzles, reading, and composing his memoirs.

Jack was predeceased by his twin sister Miriam and older brother William, an orthopedic surgeon in Oklahoma City. He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Anne (Smith) Miller, their three children, Richard (Kristal), Cindy (Matt), and Karen, and seven grandchildren.

A private memorial service was held December 3 at the Clubhouse Auditorium at Lansdowne Woods. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS.org).