University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: April 13, 2006

By KEVIN FRYLING
Reporter Contributor

Although he officially retired four years ago at age 80, Philip Miles, emeritus professor of biological sciences, is still on campus three to four times a week to teach and serve on committees.

Although he officially retired four years ago at age 80, Phillip Miles continues to teach a course each semester on fungi, his specialty, in the Department of Biological Sciences.
PHOTO: NANCY J. PARISI

Miles will be honored for 50 years of service to UB at the second annual Celebration of Academic Excellence on April 20 in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

"I came to UB in 1956," says Miles. "That was the first year we turned out a Ph.D. student in biology.

"At that time, the biology department had about nine members. I had just come from postdoctoral work at Harvard University. I started off at a salary of $5,000," he recalls. "That amazes people now," he chuckles.

Miles received a bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1948 after a three-year stint in the armed forces during World War II postponed his studies. He was stationed stateside in the reserve corps, he says. He received a doctorate from Indiana University.

Miles specializes in mycology—the science that deals with fungi—and his work has focused on the complex sexual mechanisms and genetic control involved in fungi reproduction.

He started out teaching Biology 101 and was at UB about six years when offered the chance to teach his first course on fungi.

He went on to serve as department co-chair from 1968-70 and chair from 1972-74.

Miles estimates the number of faculty in his department has tripled since the mid-1950s. He notes there also has been a general shift in the field of biological sciences: a move from morphology—the study of the structural elements of organisms, such as stems and roots—to the study of more microscopic components, such as tissues, cells and other fine structures that became observable due to technological advances.

"I feel the strength of our program is the opportunities we afford students to do independent studies," Miles says. "I've had a great deal of experience throughout the years assisting graduate and undergraduate students with their projects."

Miles, who received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1998, now teaches one course each semester at UB: "Morphology of Plants and Fungi" and "Fungi and Their Medical Importance," which, he says, attracts medical students who want to learn about the overlooked role of fungi in diseases.

"It's important for people going into the health professions to have some knowledge of these diseases." Miles says, explaining that patients who have lowered immune systems, such as those with HIV/AIDS, are at the greatest risk.

Miles also studies edible mushrooms—an interest that he traces to his academic partnership with S.T. Chang, a biologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, with whom he co-founded the World Society of Mushroom Biology and Mushroom Products.

Miles has traveled to Japan, China and Taiwan numerous times to conduct research and teach. His relationship with Asian universities began in 1963-64 when he spent more than a year at Okayama University in Japan as a Fulbright Research Scholar.

Miles says one of the highlights of these trips came in 1994 when he was invited to participate in the International Symposium on Production and Products of Lentinus Mushroom in Qingyuan, China. He points out that Qingyuan is known as the "mushroom city" because it produces the most shiitake mushrooms in the world. To accommodate the event, officials in Qingyuan constructed a three-star hotel, a modern marketplace and a research laboratory.

"It was a 10-hour car trip from Fujian to Qingyuan," Miles remembers. "It was a beautiful ride through the mountains, but the roads were poor. There was a holiday for the opening of this meeting and all the schoolchildren were out and in costumes, and we were paraded from the hotel to the conference. I've never seen anything quite like it."

Miles has a lot of memories of his distinguished career at UB. He notes the time he hosted in his home the famous British-born botanist Kenneth Thimann, who visited Buffalo as part of the David Hackett Memorial Lectures in the 1970s. Miles and his colleagues founded the series to honor a former UB professor.

He also remembers all of his Ph.D. students, as well as their spouses, whom he often welcomed into his home over the years for graduate seminars and coffee.

He is still in touch with at least one of those former students and expects to visit with him this month.

Miles credits his wife, Eleanor, with being his constant partner throughout his career. An English teacher in the Buffalo Public Schools, she has been his editor on numerous projects. He notes she often put in late nights with him when he created lesson plans as a new professor. The couple has three children and three grandchildren.

The author of several books in recent years, Miles' current project is a textbook entitled "Biology of the Fungi: Principles and Effects on Health."

He also serves on the Pre-Professional Health Committee and the President's Panel for the Review of Search Procedures.