Awards
- School of Public Health John R. Endwright Alumni Service Award - 1998
- IUAA President's Award - 1995
Lifelong political activist and community leader, Marian Godeke Miller also devotes her talents and experience to the benefit of Indiana University. A delegate to several Republican national conventions and a past president of the Indiana Federation of Republican Women, Miller is a leader in the Republican party at the local, statewide, and national levels, and is a past president of the National Federation of Republican Women.
As president of NFRW, her goals were empowering Republican women through educational and training programs and intensifying efforts to elect qualified Republicans to office. Miller's achievements during her leadership include the No Child Left Behind program and an increase in membership in 2001. She also served as first and third vice president and secretary of NFRW and has been a member of the NFRW Board of Directors since 1979. Throughout her time in the organization, Miller chaired the Program, Bylaws, Senior American and Leadership committees. In addition, she served as president of the Indiana Federation of Republican Women (IFRW), where she started the Betty Rendel Campaign Institute, the IFRW Mentor Program for High School Girls, and Women for a House Majority.
A former schoolteacher, Miller long has been active in Indiana politics. She has advised the state superintendent of public instruction and was instrumental in the development of Hoosiers for Higher Education, sponsored campaign events, and served as a statewide coordinator for Dan Quayle, Dan Coats, Otis Bowen, and John Mutz. Miller has served as a Tippecanoe County precinct committeewoman and as president of the Tippecanoe County Republican Women's Club. She also was a delegate to the 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000 Republican National Conventions, where she both spoke and served as secretary of the Committee on Resolutions.
Miller brings her broad political experience to President Brand's Legislative Advisory Group and is on the steering committee of Hoosiers for Higher Education, a volunteer lobbying group for Indiana University. She also is a member of the IU Foundation's national volunteer network and the School of HPER's Endowment Campaign Cabinet. She and her husband have recently endowed the Marian Godeke Miller Lecture. A past president of the United Way of Greater Lafayette, Miller has twice received the Sagamore of the Wabash, the highest honor bestowed by the governor of Indiana. In 1995, the Indiana Alumni Association presented her with the President's Award for her service to the university.
In addition to her involvement in politics, Miller is active in the community. She chaired the Indiana Commission on Aging, and was a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging and the National Forum on Excellence in Education. Miller is on the Board of Advisors of the National Museum of Women's History and has been a member of the Board of Directors for the United Way of Indiana, Governor's Advisory Committee on Public Welfare, and the Pension Management Legislative Study Commission. She has also held leadership roles with local organizations including the United Way, Home Hospital Auxiliary, Boys & Girls Club, YWCA, Battleground Historical Association and her church.