The POSNA Hall of Fame provides an enduring history to honor those POSNA members who have displayed dedication to the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, teaching and mentoring, studying musculoskeletal conditions in children and caring for children with musculoskeletal conditions. Nominations for inductees are taken each fall by the POSNA membership and selected by the Awards Committee and members of the Hall of Fame.
Hall of Fame Categories: Leadership, Diversity, Teacher, Humanitarian, Hero, Triumph over Adversity, Pioneer, Contributions to Literature, Home Person (one who does the real work while others go to meetings), Fox-Hole Buddy (reliable person when the stakes are high), Exceptional Clinician, POSNA Service
Eligibility:
Inductees:
Freeman Miller, MD
2023
Dr. Freeman Miller was born and raised in Central Ohio in an Amish family with three brothers and three sisters. He was drafted during the Vietnam War and as an approved conscientious objector, he was mobilized to Colorado to complete his 2 years of service in the Civilian Corps. He worked in an emergency room as an orderly attendant, and this experience gave him his first exposure to medicine. He decided to apply to a very new field at that time—that of being a Physician Assistant. He attended the PA program at the University of Iowa, one of the earliest PA programs in the U.S. He soon decided that he wanted to become a physician and left Iowa to return to Colorado for medical school. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado School of Medicine and completed his surgical internship at the University of Colorado Medical Center. He completed his residency in orthopaedics at the University of Virginia Medical Center and a fellowship in pediatric orthopaedics at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario.
From the beginning, Dr. Miller’s goal in pediatric orthopaedics was to establish a neuropediatric orthopaedic practice, as his interest in orthopaedics grew from his innate curiosity about gait and mechanics. After his fellowship, to support the educational efforts of his wife, Lois, he worked in Indiana in private practice for 4 years. He then took the next step to pursue his primary interest in a position focused on neuropediatrics and gait. At that time, duPont was looking for someone to start a Cerebral Palsy program—the exact position Dr. Miller was looking for. duPont hired Dr. Miller and neurodevelopmental pediatrician Dr. Steven Bachrach to build the program together. They conceptualized and developed a comprehensive neuropediatric program, including a gait lab and actively worked to educate and promote advanced treatments for neurodisabled children, working together for almost 30 years. Their program afforded Dr. Miller the privilege of caring for thousands of children from birth until their early 20s, fostering longitudinal relationships with patients and families, serving as their orthopaedist, but in many ways also as their primary physician. Dr. Miller retired from clinical practice at duPont after almost 35 years of service to the institution and the orthopaedic community.
Education has been central to Dr. Miller’s career —through education, he felt that he has been able to make the greatest contributions to the care of neurodisabled children globally. Domestically, he has trained generations of pediatric orthopaedic fellows and residents. Further, a highlight of Dr. Miller’s career has been his extensive travel globally to provide education to surgeons, physician, PTs, and others caring for children with disabilities. His global educational activities started in South America. Dean MacEwen (then Chair at duPont) had started a program to provide pediatric orthopaedic fellowship training to surgeons in South America. When the fellows would return to their home countries, they wanted ongoing pediatric orthopaedic education and to provide educational opportunities to their colleagues. As such, Dr. Miller was frequently invited as guest faculty, resulting in multiple trips throughout South America, Europe, Egypt, Russia, India, Thailand, Uganda, and China. One of his greatest satisfactions over the course of his career was witnessing substantial improvements in the care of children with cerebral palsy throughout the world.
In addition to extensive involvement in orthopaedic education globally for clinicians, for over 30 years, Dr. Miller also served as a research professor at the University of Delaware where he mentored students in mechanical engineering and biomechanical engineering. In this capacity, he served on multiple thesis committees for Masters and PhD students, with particular involvement in mentoring students working in gait, bone density, and prosthesis design.
Dr. Miller is a member of numerous professional societies and is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Commission for Motion Analysis Accreditation, where he also served as president for 2 years. He has served as president of the Gait and Clinical Movement Analysis Society and was Editor in Chief of the Journal Gait and Posture from 2001-2006. He is currently an Editorial Board Member of Gait and Posture, the Journal of Children’s Orthopaedics, and the Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation. His distinctions are many, including receiving a lifetime achievement award for the treatment of cerebral palsy from the Royal College of Surgeons of Scotland.
Dr. Miller has been actively involved in research throughout his career and has authored more than 200 research publications in peer-reviewed journals, many of which were significant contributions to the care of children with cerebral palsy. He has written 11 book chapters and has authored several books for the education of medical professionals as well as parents and nonmedical caretakers of children with cerebral palsy. Two particularly notable books are Cerebral Palsy: A Complete Guide for Caregiving, directed at parents and nonmedical caregivers, and the sentinel book Cerebral Palsy, for orthopaedic surgeons and other clinicians involved in the care of children with CP. Through his work, Dr. Miller sought to elevate our knowledge about cerebral palsy and gait, resulting in improvements in the assessment and clinical care of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities.
Dr. Suken Shah, one of the POSNA members that nominated Dr. Miller notes, “Freeman devoted his career to the care of children with neuromuscular disorders, specifically cerebral palsy, and transformed the way we take care of children with special needs in orthopaedics.” In listing the many contributions that Dr. Miller has made, he particularly noted that Freeman conducted meticulous clinical outcomes research that provided meaningful and useful information to guide treatment and improve care. He cited Dr. Miller’s renowned expertise in gait analysis and noted his incredible contributions to education, including organizing courses and POSNA tutorials on CP for over 2 decades. Further, he “trained hundreds of residents and fellows in his 32-year career at the Alfred I duPont Institute (and Hospital for Children), many of whom went on to make significant contributions domestically and internationally.”
In addition to falling for Medicine while he was working and going to school in Colorado, Dr. Miller met and fell in love with Lois Lind. Freeman and Lois were married in 1970 (53 years by the time of his induction into the Hall of Fame) and have had a lifetime of adventures together. Dr. Miller loves cooking and gardening as well as going on hikes to explore the outdoors. Beyond orthopaedics, he has been active in community service throughout his career and retirement including serving as a board member for a local school and volunteering time for the local senior center.
Dr. Miller’s advice to future generations of pediatric orthopaedic surgeons: “Be aware of what you are doing, re-evaluate where you are going periodically, and take some breaks.”
In acknowledgment of his extensive contributions to the care of children with cerebral palsy and other neurodevelopmental conditions worldwide, through clinical care, education, and research, Dr. Freeman Miller is a 2023 inductee to the POSNA Hall of Fame.
Interview conducted, and biography prepared, by Dr. Coleen S. Sabatini for the POSNA Hall of Fame Committee. 2023.
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