The University of Massachusetts Amherst

Thaddeus Miller

Thaddeus Miller
Associate Professor of Public Policy and Director of Graduate Studies

Office: 

616 Thompson Hall

Thaddeus Miller is associate professor at the School of Public Policy. His work focuses on interdisciplinary research collaborations and research-community partnerships to advance urban sustainability and resilience, from the local to the international level.

He serves on the leadership team of a five-year, $12 million National Science Foundation-funded Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network project that engages with nine cities in the US and Latin America to advance research, policy, and practice on resilience in the face of climate change. Miller also is engaged in projects on the municipal and regional level, partnering with local governments in both Portland, Oregon, and the Phoenix area on issues related to resilience, equity, sustainability, and emerging technologies. 

Miller is the author of Reconstructing Sustainability Science: Knowledge and Action for a Sustainable Future (Routledge, 2015), which examines how the emerging field can be used to advance positive social action. He has published articles in journals including Urban StudiesScience as CultureSustainability Science, and Issues in Science and Technology and his research has been funded by federal, regional, and industry partners. He also publishes regularly in general-audience outlets, including Slate and The Conversation, on technology, governance, and sustainability issues.

Prior to joining UMass, Miller was associate professor at the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and the Polytechnic School at Arizona State University, where he was also codirector of the Center for Smart Cities and Regions. Before that, he was an assistant professor at the Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University.

Miller received a PhD from Arizona State’s School of Sustainability, an MPA in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a BA in economics and environmental studies from Bucknell University.

Research interests: 

interdisciplinary research collaborations and research-community partnerships to advance urban sustainability and resilience