Doris Ida Miller

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Doris Ida Miller
Doris Miller - Pioneering Women.png
Born
1939
EducationUniversity of Toronto (Bachelor of Physical & Health Education)

University of Oregon (Masters)

The Pennsylvania State University (PhD)
Alma materPennsylvania State University
Known forSports biomechanics and diving coaching

Doris Ida Miller (born 1939) is a Canadian biomechanist and Professor Emeritus at Western University, who is known for her research in sports biomechanics, most specifically diving. [1] She was the first female council member of the International Society of Biomechanics, a founding member and President of the American Society of Biomechanics (1983-1984), a founding member of the Canadian Society for Biomechanics, a Fellow of the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports. [2] , and was inducted in 1982 as Fellow #288 in the prestigious National Academy of Kinesiology, USA (formerly American Academy of Physical Education; American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education), though after returning to Canada, she changed to Corresponding Fellow status within the Academy. [3]

Contents

Education

Miller earned a Bachelor of Physical and Health Education from the University of Toronto in 1961, a master's degree from the University of Oregon in 1964, and a PhD degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1970 as the first graduate of the university's biomechanics program. [2]

Her PhD thesis, titled A computer simulation of the airborne phase of diving, was conducted under the supervision of Richard Nelson. [1] [4] Her computational model was accompanied by computer graphics that required more than 3,000 punch cards when implemented as a computer mainframe program. [2] [5]

Separate from her studies in biomechanics, Miller also earned a Master's in Divinity from the University of Victoria in 1990. [5]

Career

Miller held faculty positions at the University of Toronto (1961-1963), the University of Saskatchewan (1964-1967 and 1970-1973), the University of Washington (1973-1984), and finally the University of Western Ontario (now Western University, 1984–2000) where she is Professor Emerita. [2]

In addition to her academic career, Miller was engaged in the world of competitive diving. She was a diving coach at the University of Saskatchewan prior to her PhD. [2] Later, she was a member of USA Diving's Performance Enhancement Team (2003-2009) and biomechanist for the Olympic Medal Program (1983- 2009). [2] [5]

Miller was a member of the first Executive Council of the International Society of Biomechanics (1975-1979) and was the first woman to serve on the council. [2] She was a founding member of the American Society of Biomechanics, and Canadian Society for Biomechanics, and served as President of the American Society of Biomechanics from 1983 to 1984. [2]

Research

Miller's research area is sports biomechanics with a primary focus is on the biomechanics of diving [1] , and additional research across a range of sports including figure skating, [6] sprinting [7] and amputee running. [8] As a graduate student at Pennsylvania State University, and alongside the biomechanist Micheline Gagnon, Miller manually digitized 16-mm high-speed film recordings of sprinters for her thesis work, and pioneered early computer graphics for animating motion capture data using punch cards [2] . She completed her PhD, titled "A computer simulation of the airborne phase of diving" in 1970. [2]

Miller collected live biomechanical data during several international diving competitions, most notably the 1986 World Aquatics Championships [9] [10] and the 1996 Olympic Games, which included embedding force platforms into 10-meter diving towers. [11] On the topic of Miller's data acquisition methods, Jill McNitt-Gray commented that,

“Few have conquered the many obstacles encountered during competition including those requiring video recording from rooftops in near tropical storm conditions or from flooded underwater window locations.” [12]

As a result of these efforts, data from the 1996 Olympic Games led to a Diving Video Database analysis program that was a forerunner to later commercial software such as Dartfish. [13]

During a project with Sport Canada from 1988 up to the 1992 Olympic Games, Miller helped develop analytical programs by collecting a database of national and international-level dives, which she used to create instructional modules for competitive diving coaches. [14] This meant Miller and her team could equip coaches with a software that provided rapid feedback on the biomechanics their athletes' dives. [14]

Honors and awards

The National Academy of Kinesiology (formerly American Academy of Physical Education; American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education), inducted her as Fellow #288 in 1982 while she was on faculty at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA; however, after returning to Canada (the University of Western Ontario [now Western University]) she changed to Corresponding Fellow status within the Academy. [15] The International Society of Biomechanics in Sports named Miller the Geoffrey Dyson Lecturer in 1992, [16] and elected her a Fellow in 2002. [17] In 2009, the International Society of Biomechanics awarded her Honorary Membership, and she remains one of two women to have received this honor to date. [18] [2] In 2000, she received the International Swimming Hall of Fame's 2000 Paragon Award for Competitive Diving. [19] [2] The American Society of Biomechanics award her the Jim Hay Memorial Award in 2009. [20]

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 Miller, Dorris Ida (1970). "A COMPUTER SIMULATION MODEL OF THE AIRBORNE PHASE OF DIVING". www.proquest.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Steele, Julie R.; Challis, John H. (2023-05-01). "Pioneering women of the International Society of Biomechanics". Journal of Biomechanics. 152 111547. doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2023.111547. ISSN   0021-9290. PMID   36996599.
  3. ↑ Cardinal, Bradley J. (2022). "The National Academy of Kinesiology: Its founding, focus, and future". Kinesiology Review. 11 (1): 6–25. doi:10.1123/kr.2021-0064.
  4. ↑ Zatsiorsky, Vladimir (December 1, 2021). "Dr. Richard C. Nelson: The Founding Father of Biomechanics". Journal of Applied Biomechanics. 37 (6): 580–581. doi:10.1123/jab.2021-0293. PMID   34872067.
  5. 1 2 3 O'Brien, Linda (2021). "Dr. Doris I. Miller - Pioneer in Sport Biomechanics" . Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  6. ↑ Albert, Wayne J.; Miller, Doris I. (1996-02-01). "Takeoff Characteristics of Single and Double Axel Figure Skating Jumps" . Journal of Applied Biomechanics. 12 (1): 72–87. doi:10.1123/jab.12.1.72. ISSN   1065-8483.
  7. ↑ Miller, Doris I.; Sprigings, Eric J. (2001-08-01). "Factors Influencing the Performance of Springboard Dives of Increasing Difficulty" . Journal of Applied Biomechanics. 17 (3): 217–231. doi:10.1123/jab.17.3.217. ISSN   1065-8483.
  8. ↑ Enoka, Roger M. Ph.D.; Miller, Doris I. Ph.D.; Burgess, Ernest M. M.D. "Below-knee Amputee Running Gait". American Journal of Physical Medicine 61(2):p 66-84, April 1982.
  9. ↑ Miller, Doris I.; Hennig, Ewald; Pizzimenti, Marc A.; Jones, Ian C.; Nelson, Richard C. (1989-02-01). "Kinetic and Kinematic Characteristics of 10-m Platform Performances of Elite Divers: I. Back Takeoffs" . Journal of Applied Biomechanics. 5 (1): 60–88. doi:10.1123/ijsb.5.1.60.
  10. ↑ Miller, Doris I.; Jones, Ian C.; Pizzimenti, Marc A.; Hennig, Ewald; Nelson, Richard C. (1990-08-01). "Kinetic and Kinematic Characteristics of 10-m Platform Performances of Elite Divers: II—Reverse Takeoffs" . Journal of Applied Biomechanics. 6 (3): 283–308. doi:10.1123/ijsb.6.3.283.
  11. ↑ Miller, Doris I.; Sprigings, Eric J. (2001-08-01). "Factors Influencing the Performance of Springboard Dives of Increasing Difficulty" . Journal of Applied Biomechanics. 17 (3): 217–231. doi:10.1123/jab.17.3.217. ISSN   1065-8483.
  12. ↑ McNitt-Gray, Jill. "Professor Doris I Miller, University of Western Ontario" . Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  13. ↑ Miller, Doris I. (2021-12-01). "Dr. Richard C. Nelson: Behind the Scenes". Journal of Applied Biomechanics. 37 (6): 585–586. doi:10.1123/jab.2021-0295. ISSN   1065-8483. PMID   34872069.
  14. 1 2 Miller, D. I. (1993). "The Challenge of Communicating Concepts to Coaches By Computer". In ISBS-Conference Proceedings Archive
  15. ↑ Cardinal, Bradley J. (2022). "The National Academy of Kinesiology: Its founding, focus, and future". Kinesiology Review. 11 (1): 6–25. doi:10.1123/kr.2021-0064.
  16. ↑ "Awards - International Society of Biomechanics in Sports". isbs.org.
  17. ↑ "Fellow of ISBS". International Society of Biomechanics in Sports.
  18. ↑ "Honorary Members". International Society of Biomechanics.
  19. ↑ "The ISHOF Aquatic Awards". International Swimming Hall of Fame.
  20. ↑ "Society Awards". American Society of Biomechanics.
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