Matthew J. Miller, Ph.D.
About Matthew J. Miller, Ph.D.
Dr. Matthew Jordan Miller is a first-generation college graduate of Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and most recently the University of Southern California - all in urban studies and planning. He is the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. from USC in urban planning. Using photography, ethnographic storytelling, and geographic information systems, he researched and taught about the role of arts, creative placemaking, and Black-owned businesses in urban development. Dr. Miller is a Provost Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design and the first African-American man to serve on the faculty of the Department of City and Regional Planning. He is working on his first book, based on his doctoral dissertation, exploring and theorizing around the geography of Black commerce, culture, and creativity in the United States. He is also teaching about placemaking as a field of practice wherein artists, designers, planners, and developers can facilitate cultural belonging. Simultaneously, Dr. Miller has worked through fellowships and consultancies at governmental agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the City of Stockton, the City of Los Angeles' Economic and Workforce Development Department, and most recently the National Endowment for the Arts as a Panelist. Dr. Miller has also worked as a community-based researcher for nonprofit coalitions in Los Angeles and Stockton, California. His intellectual work has been honored by the National Academy of the Sciences and the Association for Collegiate Schools in Planning. His civic work has been recognized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the California State Legislature. His artistic and cultural work has been featured in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the Philadelphia Tribune.