Bio

Thomas Kenan (Tom) Miller III, Ph.D., is the interim executive director of NC State Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He formerly served as senior vice provost and is a McPherson Family Distinguished Professor Emeritus at North Carolina State University. In 1982, he joined the faculty in electrical and computer engineering at NC State, where his serendipitous academic career began. While he ventured into administration, first as associate dean in the College of Engineering, then as vice provost and senior vice provost, his greatest love was teaching his students and helping them turn their dreams and passions into reality through entrepreneurship.

Dr. Miller established the NC State University Engineering Entrepreneurs Program (EEP) in 1993. He is a member of the Academy of Outstanding Teachers at North Carolina State University, and recipient of the 1996 Joseph M. Biedenbach Outstanding Engineering Educator award from the IEEE “for innovative teaching methods and for empowering students as entrepreneurs.” He was named “Tar Heel of the Week” in January, 2000 for his work with engineering student entrepreneurs. He also co-founded and served as president of X Engineering Software Systems Corporation, developer of the first native X-Window spreadsheet, which was utilized by NASA on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. In 2008, Dr. Miller was recognized for Outstanding Leadership in the Field of Distance Education by the United States Distance Learning Association for his work in online learning applied to distance education. Also in 2008, he became the founding executive director of the NC State Entrepreneurship Initiative (currently NC State Innovation and Entrepreneurship). In 2010, he received the inaugural Entrepreneur of the Year award from NC State University.

Since retiring in 2022, he has been working with two companies to bring their innovations to fruition. In addition, he enjoys being on the water and spending time with his three grandchildren.