A Legacy of Language, Learning and Giving Back
By Robyn Murray
When Burnett Society member Kevin Miller first stepped onto the University of Nebraska–Lincoln campus, he had no idea that his path would take him around the world and back again.
A first-generation college graduate and a native Nebraskan from Lincoln, Kevin began his academic career as a chemistry major, driven by a passion to help the environment, and then moved on to journalism. But neither was the right fit. It wasn’t until a chance encounter with a childhood friend, who invited him to visit what would become the highly regarded Barkley Speech Language and Hearing Clinic on campus, that he discovered his true calling.
“I liked kids, and I liked language,” he recalled. “Speech pathology is a lot of one-on-one or small groups — that was attractive to me.”
Ultimately, Kevin’s career spanned decades and continents. After earning his bachelor’s degree at UNL, he pursued his master’s at the University of Cincinnati and his doctorate at the University of Northern Colorado. His professional journey took him from Iowa to New Mexico, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where he served as a school administrator overseeing programs for deaf and hard of hearing students. Along the way, he presented at conferences across the U.S. and earned three Fulbright awards that took him to Taiwan, Greece and Armenia.
“If you would have told me that I would live in these various states and teach in these various countries, I would have looked at you cross-eyed,” he said.
Each international experience left a mark, but one occasion as a volunteer in Bosnia and Herzegovina stands out. A mother walked 10 miles in 110-degree heat to have her child’s hearing tested. “Sure enough, her child had hearing loss,” he said. “It made me think about how sometimes we don’t appreciate how fortunate we are. That was very memorable to me.”
Throughout his career, Kevin witnessed the evolution of communication tools and support for people who are deaf or hard of hearing — from cumbersome TTY machines to sleek Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids and widespread use of sign language interpreters. “To be successful in our society, you need … the ability to communicate,” he said. These tools have “opened the world for people who are deaf.”
Witnessing the growing inclusion of people with disabilities in public life has been rewarding, he said. “It wasn’t that long ago that we didn’t educate students with disabilities. Now, not a day goes by that I don’t see someone with a disability out in public. That’s the most gratifying thing.”
After returning to Lincoln, Kevin taught at Concordia University for 12 years. He is now retired, but he still writes about and advocates for special education, and he’s giving back to future educators who plan to work in the field. With a planned gift through the University of Nebraska Foundation, Kevin has established an endowed scholarship to support graduate students at UNL majoring in speech-language pathology, audiology or education of the deaf and hard of hearing. In the short term, the scholarship fund is expendable, which means he can support students today and meet them in person.
“They’re young, they have good ideas, and they’re already thinking about how they want to make a difference,” he said. “Hopefully, this plants a seed for them to give back someday, too.”
Kevin said while he has attended several universities, UNL has always been his home. That feeling motivated him to give to his alma mater.
“Wherever I go, I feel like I’m representing Nebraska. I wanted to do my part to help students afford majoring in these fields — just because of the career I got to have and am still having.”
But his deepest motivation is even closer to home.
“My mother was the biggest advocate for Nebraska,” he said. “She and my father didn’t go to college, but they valued education. I think I’m doing this for me but also for them.”
“Wherever I go, I feel like I’m representing Nebraska. I wanted to do my part to help students afford majoring in these fields.”
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