Dorothy ‘Dot’ Miles, Ph.D.: 1937-2020

07/10/2020

Dorothy ‘Dot’ Miles, Ph.D., professor emerita in the School of Education, died July 1, 2020. She was 83.

Miles directed the graduate program in Educational Studies for several years. She also taught courses in Special Education, Foundations and graduate level statistics.

“She met with every prospective student,” said Linda Bufkin, Ph.D., professor emerita of educational studies. “She had a clear focus on students and supported them as undergraduates and as graduates.”

During her time at Saint Louis University, Miles also facilitated the Cyprus program and taught several courses in Cyprus.

Miles joined SLU in August 1994. She retired as an associate professor in June 2006.

“She was the best at pulling people together and planning great times,” Bufkin said. “She was the unofficial social chairperson at work and outside of work. I enjoyed how much she enjoyed language and word play. She was so clever with her words and often listened and then popped in with a comment that surprised everyone.”

Miles was born March 17, 1937, in Akron, Ohio, to William and Mary Duff. She met her husband, Wilford Miles, at a University of Akron fraternity party. They married in 1961 and had one child.

Miles received her masters’ degree in counseling from Alfred University and her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Connecticut.

Miles was preceded in death by her husband, Wilford Miles, and her brother John Duff. She is survived by her daughter, Laura Lee Miles Kaplan, as well as Gary Kaplan, Rachel Kaplan, Sarah and Louis Zbinden, and her dog, Pearl.

Due to the pandemic, no formal service will be held.