2013 Ovatio: Andrew Miller

Andrew Miller

Andrew Miller (University of Pittsburgh), Ovatio read by Benjamin Haller (Virginia Wesleyan College)

Meminerimus neque obliviscemur* huius magistri egregissimi, quem hodie honoramus. Huic filio Civitatis Aureae, non solum primus gradus Baccalaurei Artium sed etiam gradus excelsiores, Magistri Artium et Doctoris Philosophiae, apud Universitatem Ursorum Aureorum sunt dati concessique.** Prospectu Pontis Portae Aureae mox relicto, contemplari incepit caerulea flumina urbis praeditae multis pontibus et Benigno Numine, postquam laboribus ingenioque suo illustravit Universitatem Urbis Ferreae***. Fulgens et aureus in caeruleo caelo, effecit ut lux almae matris suae quoque fieret in sua nova sede eruditionis, corroborans veritatem et virtutem eius scriptis doctissimis suis de Hymnis Homericis et carminibus Pindari.**** Quamquam hic poeta quondam scripsit aquam esse optimum, scimus hunc virum, sapientissimum et carissimum praeceptorem multis discipulis, esse melius. Plaudamus igitur Andrew M. Miller.

We will remember and not forget this outstanding teacher whom we celebrate today. A true son of the Golden State, he earned his BA, MA and PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. But he soon exchanged his vista of San Francisco Bay for that of the Allegheny and Monongahela waters, when he brought his toil and talents to the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh. Embodying the illuminating gold as well as the nourishing blue that together symbolize both universities, he made Berkeley’s motto an intellectual reality in his new home, strengthening knowledge and excellence in its classics department with his learned publications on the Homeric Hymns and Pindar. Although Pindar’s first Olympian ode praised water as the “best thing”, we know that this man, a most wise and beloved mentor to many students, is something better. Let us therefore applaud Andrew M. Miller!

Cadance Butler
Philip Gallagher
Nadav Kravitz
Inna Kunz
Aviva Pollock
Rian Sirkus
Judith P. Hallett, University of Maryland, College Park

* Meminerimus neque obliviscemur: cf. the first line of the Homeric Hymn to Apollo: μνήσομαι οὐδὲ λάθωμαι Ἀπόλλωνος ἑκάτοιο.
** Ursorum aureorum: the sports teams at the University of California, Berkeley are nicknamed “the Golden Bears”. Coincidentally, blue and gold are the official colors of both UC Berkeley and the University of Pittsburgh.
*** Pittsburgh is called “the city of bridges” and “the iron city”; benigno numine is the city’s motto.
**** Fiat Lux is the motto of the University of California, Berkeley; Veritas et Virtus the motto of the University of Pittsburgh.