Gene and Lois Miller
Donors and Community Business Leaders
“We want you to join us”
Humble, compassionate, visionary, committed, and generous are words that come to mind when thinking of Lois and Dr. Eugene Miller. Together they pledged $200,000 for the new Allied Health, Math and Science building--the first permanent building of Cuesta’s North County Campus.
Gene retired as CEO of Chemron Corporation, a 25-year-old Paso Robles chemical manufacturing company. Gene co-founded Chemron in 1977 with William Frost, building the company to 100 employees with annual sales of about $55 million. Chemron manufactures personal care products such as shampoos and soap, as well as industrial cleaners. Chemron’s customers include Neutrogena, Paul Mitchell, Nexus and St. Ives.
The Chemron family of employees was well cared for with Gene and Bill providing anniversary bonuses, and an annual all expense paid trip to Lake Tahoe. Gene recalls, “It was like parting with a family member to sell Chemron.”
Gene and Lois have raised six wonderful children and have emphasized the importance of a college education. They met at Tulane University while pursuing their Master’s Degree in chemistry. For Gene and Lois, raising a family and running a company have many similarities--they both take commitment, a big heart and a good sense of humor.
It was the idea of a college campus that would serve people who lived and worked in Paso Robles that first attracted Gene and Lois to Cuesta in 1998. They made not one, but three gifts that year and ensured that Chemron pledged $50,000 to The Campaign for Cuesta to develop a new campus for the North County.
Two years later, they pledged an additional $50,000 to add two more temporary buildings to the rapidly growing campus. In addition, Chemron supported the costs of Cuesta’s “Chemistry Carnival,” a faculty program that illustrates the fun and dynamics of chemistry. The Millers gave a generous gift to support “Expanding Your Horizons,” a Cuesta workshop designed to encourage middle school girls to pursue careers in math and science.
Gene and Lois are stellar representatives of a caring and giving community, where a donor’s passion and the college programs are indelibly linked to improve and enhance educational opportunity for students.
“We are grateful for all that we have received and we want to give back because we have accomplished our dream and now we want to help others accomplish theirs,” said Gene.