Students, colleagues remember professor with tree-planting

Students of Dan Miltner, who died in March 2014, place paper leaves on a tree planted in his memory. Each leaf completes the sentence, “As Professor Miltner’s student, I learned and will always remember that a teacher needs to be …” Photo: Erin Schubert

Former students and colleagues of Dan Miltner, a faculty member in the Office of Mathematics Education who died suddenly on March 25, 2014, remembered him with a tree-planting ceremony April 24.

Miltner, 46, was assistant director of the Office of Mathematics Education and clinical assistant professor in the College of Education and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He received two Silver Circle Awards and a teaching award from the Council for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

The memorial on the east side of the grove near the Science and Engineering Offices building includes a young oak tree and a plaque that reads “beloved teacher and colleague.”

“It’s something that will always be here on the campus, and thus will serve as a constant reminder that Dan will always be here with us,” said Alison Superfine, associate professor and director of the Office of Mathematics Education.

Those who spoke at the ceremony included Brooke Shipley, professor and head of mathematics, statistics and computer science; math professor emeritus John Baldwin; Evan Taylor, one of Miltner’s students; and math department colleague Kelly Darke.

Students hung paper leaves from the tree with one word that finished the sentence, “As Professor Miltner’s student, I learned and will always remember that a teacher needs to be …”