Late biologist’s estate gives $4.2 million to IU

An Indiana University scientist's estate has donated nearly $4.2 million to the school's biology department.

IU said the gifts from the Carlos O. Miller estate now total nearly $5.5 million and fund a faculty chair and a student fellowship.

The latest donation is the largest gift ever made to the department.

Miller was a faculty member at IU from 1957 until his official retirement in 1987. However, he continued to do research on campus until his death in 2012 and was often seen carrying plant cuttings in vials with a pair of pruning shears tucked in his back pocket.

Miller is recognized for his discovery of a class of plant hormones that cause plant cells to divide and differentiate. The science is still used in horticultural and plant biotechnology.