Carolina Mourns Passing Of Ron Miller

Ron Miller, who established the University of North Carolina fencing program and spent more than five decades at its helm, passed away on Monday. He was 78.

Miller came to UNC in 1967 and is the longest serving head coach in UNC history. In Chapel Hill, he founded and built a program that continues to excel athletically and academically. He coached and mentored thousands of student-athletes during 52 years as head coach, impacting them in all facets of their lives.

Miller, who loomed large in the sport of fencing, was part of the USA Fencing Hall of Fame's Class of 2023, an honor that was announced in the summer of 2022.

"Ron Miller's name is synonymous with Carolina fencing," UNC Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham said. "He made a huge impact on thousands of student-athletes in his program and in his classes on campus, and on hundreds of coworkers within our department. We will miss him greatly, and we send our deepest condolences to his family and those he has touched."

Miller was the recipient of many honors during his UNC tenure. He was named 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Fencing Coach of the Year for both the men's and women's teams. He also earned the ACC women's honor in 2015, the first year of conference competition for women's teams and the year that fencing returned as an ACC sport, both landmarks in which he was deeply involved. He has been recognized as a Priceless Gem and received the Jack Baker Award for Service to USA Fencing. He was the national coach of the year in 1983 and 1986, and he sent at least one fencer to the NCAA Championships in each year of his career.

His impact extends to international fencing. A USFA National Coaching Staff member since 1977, he served as a coach for the 1981 U.S. Junior World Team, the 1983 Senior World Championship Team and the 1987 Junior Pan American Team. From 1985-95, he served as the director of the USFA's National Coaches College and from 1983-91, he was the director of the USFA's National Junior Elite Summer Programs.

He served on the NCAA's Fencing Committee and was an NCAA Regional Committee Chair.

The 2017-18 campaign was set to be Miller's final one as the head coach, but he stayed an additional season, bringing his total to 52. In April 2019, Matt Jednak, a former Tar Heel fencer, was announced as just the second head coach in the program's history.

"I don't think I've ever felt as strongly about someone who is not part of my actual family," Jednak said on Monday of Miller. "Coach Miller shaped all of us in so many ways, and I'm grateful to have spent so much of my life linked to him in one way or another – as one of his fencers, as one of his assistant coaches, and finally following in his very large shoes as coach of this program. He has left an incredible legacy and will live on in every Tar Heel he mentored, but we will all miss him terribly."

At the time of Miller's retirement, tributes from program graduates poured in, underscoring the impact he had over the years. He even got a shoutout from a former Tar Heel fencer on Jeopardy. "It makes me realize the reach and impact our program has, and also assures me that it has a strong foundation that extends past the person at the helm," Miller said at the time. "I look forward to watching the program's continued growth, and to supporting from the sidelines."

He did just that, remaining an integral part of the Carolina program and the local fencing community after stepping down. Well known for his grassroots work in fencing, teaching and promoting the sport to those who might never have encountered it otherwise, his former student-athletes took away lessons that are only tangentially related to the sport.

Upon his retirement, Miller spoke of the qualities he tried to impart to Tar Heel student-athletes: "I've always wanted them to focus on hard work, self-belief, selflessness with teammates, strength of character and personal responsibility, and hopefully they've taken all of that with them after they graduate."

They have taken that and more.

Miller earned a bachelor of science degree in exercise science and psychology from Florida State in 1966, a master's degree in exercise science from Eastern Kentucky in 1967, and a doctorate in exercise science, higher education, guidance and psychology from Carolina in 1974. He was awarded a three-weapon "Maitre d' Armes" degree in 1980.

Miller is survived by his wife, Susun. Between them, they have five grown children – Caroline, Joe, Kurt, Myah and Grey – and eight grandchildren.

UNC Fencing alums are invited to send a few sentences about Coach Miller's impact to dgelin@unc.edu. These tributes may be used on GoHeels.com and social media. Please include full name, weapon, and year of UNC graduation.

University of North Carolina Athletics

Related Videos