Steven Muller ’48

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By attaining the highest levels of leadership in the fields of education and international relations, Steven Muller has brought great honor to UCLA. His diversity of expertise is bonded by an abiding belief in unifying ideals: the attainment of essential knowledge; the development of effective communication; and the nurturance of strong personal ethics. His remarkable range of talents and dedication to service enable him to oversee an academic panel or to address a global delegation with equal grace and sensitivity.

Muller is the tenth president of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. During his 14 years on the Homewood campus, he has guided this unique research institution to a position of worldwide prominence in academic distinction and community enrichment. Muller also served 11 years as president of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Currently, he is chairman of the Trustee Policy Committee for the Johns Hopkins Institutions.

The director of five corporations, Muller holds active positions with several professional organizations, including the Committee for Economic Development, the Board of Independent Sector and the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He is director of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies.

Considered a specialist in comparative government and international relations, Muller maintains a keen interest in the European political situation; notable among his many publications is the book, Documents in European Government. His contribution has been acknowledged with the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit, presented by the president of the Federal Republic of Germany. He has represented the United States at the International Conference on Science and World Affairs and has served as member of the presidential commissions on the White House fellowships and on world hunger.

A native of Hamburg, Muller first came to the United States in 1940. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science at UCLA and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. Receiving his Ph.D. in government from Cornell University, he returned to that institution for a five-year tenure as vice president for public affairs. He assumed the duties of provost at Johns Hopkins University in 1971.

A member of the American Association of Rhodes Scholars and Phi Beta Kappa, his awards include honorary doctorate degrees from Brown University, Georgetown University and the University of Maryland. He is a 1973 recipient of the UCLA Alumni Association’s Professional Achievement Award of Distinction.

As he becomes the fortieth individual to be presented with the Edward A. Dickson Alumnus of the Year Achievement Award, it is fitting that Muller outspokenly perceives alumni involvement as an element vital to the successful operation and growth of our nation’s universities. In his essay, “The Definition and Philosophy of Institutional Advancement,” Muller advocates “the continuous effort to maintain and strengthen that uniquely American sense of community between a college or university and its graduates.” The UCLA Alumni Association is especially proud to honor an eloquent champion of academic excellence and international goodwill; a man committed to the pursuit and transmission of advanced knowledge to better serve the quality of human life throughout the world.