SPACE IN STEM

Bev Miller did not want to be pigeonholed when she arrived at Oregon State in 2014 as a transfer student from Monterrey Peninsula Junior College. She wanted to study engineering, a difficult major for any student, much less one with the added demands of playing softball in the country’s premier conference.

At some schools, that would not have been possible.

At Oregon State, not only was it possible, it was encouraged.

"Oregon State believed in me, and encouraged me to pursue a difficult major," said Miller, a fifth-year bioengineering major in the College of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering who plans to use her degree to do life-altering gene research.

"It’s unbelievable how everyone was so willing to work with me," to successfully balance a challenging academic major with the rigors of Division I Athletics, she added. "I am very happy, and very fortunate, that OSU put education first.

"If I had gone to another school, that wouldn’t have been an option. When I had conflicts with a class the coaching staff said, ‘No problem, we will work with your schedule.’ The support I got from our coaching staff was huge.

"I’ve had teammates who transferred here. We’ve talked about how at their previous universities they were told, ‘You cannot study that,’ " if they selected a challenging major.

"What message is that sending our athletes? That all you are good for is your sport? That’s not true. Thankfully my professors were very understanding, they knew I would be gone every weekend and they worked with me.

"Being able to get my engineering degree has definitely shaped the trajectory of my life, and changed it completely."

Miller was the epitome of a successful, well-rounded student-athlete during her playing career, which ended this past spring after she helped lead the Beavers to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2013.

Her impressive resume of athletic, academic, leadership and service accomplishments make her an Everyday Champion.

Miller’s resume is impressive.

• She was an honorable mention all-conference pitcher as a junior, when she led the Pac-12 in innings pitched (194).
• She was honorable mention all-academic as a senior, the only year she was eligible for such honors due to her status as a transfer student. She also pitched in 35 games and finished with a 13-10 record.
• She volunteered on OSU’s Habitat for Humanity house-building project in Philomath; went to the Dominican Republic as a member of the 2016 Beavers Without Borders group; volunteered on the Read With the Beavs team, and worked with the Lady Knights U-12 youth softball team.
• She is also mentored a local middle-school student.

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I love kids, and being able to share my love of science with other girls and to serve as living proof that women can flourish in a male-dominated field of study.

"I’ve been told I don’t look nerdy enough to be an engineer," she said, laughing. "I guess that’s a compliment, but then, what does an engineer look like? We all look like everyone else, we just happen to be in this field.

"I love that OSU is on the front line of making changes," and facilitating the inclusion of more women in the engineering sciences. "I am very fortunate to have come to Oregon State and to be in this environment.

"In my pro-school classes, there is no feeling of, "I shouldn’t be here.’ We all belong."

Her contributions have not gone unnoticed by OSU softball coach Laura Berg.

"Beverly is one of the most mature, intelligent, hard-working athlete I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with," Berg said in praising the Beaverton native, a graduate of Sunset High School. "The Real World better watch out for Beverly Miller."

Coincidentally, a desire to make an impact on the real world led to Miller’s decision to change her major from pre-nursing to bioengineering when she transferred to OSU from Monterrey Peninsula JC.

"It was a very deliberate move," Miller said. "I realized I could help more people with an engineering degree [than with] a nursing degree."

Her choice made for a difficult transition, academically, and for many visits to the office of her academic advisor, Christine Loehr, an associate professor in biomedical science in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

"Fall term [2014] I was really struggling," she recalled. "Chris was very influential and very helpful, she kept me confident. I went to her office and said, ‘I don’t know if I can stay on this track.’

"She told me, ‘Push through, you’re going to be fine.’ Sure enough, I was, and here I am finishing my last year in bioengineering. But looking back, if she hadn’t been there encouraging me, I don’t know if I still would be in engineering.

"I might have graduated in biology."

Miller plans to attend graduate school in bioengineering or molecular biology. Hopefully she can remain on the West Coast, where most of the country’s premier gene-sequencing research centers are located.

"I will be applying to PHD programs this fall," she said, with the end goal of someday leading her own research team. "It is a cool idea to me to be able to work to prevent these deadly diseases that are not defensible at the moment."