Potato Grower

WWW.POTATOGROWER.COM 23 Creighton Miller (front row, third from right) stands with growers, researchers and other members of the potato industry at a recent Texas A&M field day. co-developed 19 new potato varieties, many grown in Texas and throughout the western U.S. Among his better-known varieties are four Russet Norkotah strains, which collectively were the second-most grown russets in the country based on seed production in 2018, says Doug Scheuring, a senior research associate with AgriLife Research. Scheuring worked with Miller for 41 years in Texas A&M's potato and vegetable legume improvement program. Some of Miller's newest releases were Reveille Russet, Vanguard Russet, Harlequin Gold and Yellow Rose Russet. Scheuring says that virtually all of the russet potato acreage in Texas is now grown using one or more of Miller's Norkotah strains. "All of our trials were produced in grower fields so that they would be grown like a potato should be," says Scheuring. "This also gave our cooperators a chance to observe how the newer clones would perform in their fields. One-on-one interaction with producers was very important to Creighton. He would say 'I always learn something every time I talk to a grower.' He truly admired and respected all the producers we worked with through the years." When Miller initiated the Texas A&M Potato Breeding and Variety Development Program in 1972, average yields for the summer crop in Texas were about 200 hundredweight per acre. By 2009, they averaged 465 hundredweight per acre— the highest summer-crop yield in the nation. Miller's varieties have brought in more than $6 million in royalties to the Texas A&M University system. In recognition of his contributions, he was presented the system's Excellence in Innovation Award for technology commercialization in 2015. "I met Creighton in 2005 when I started leading the Oregon potato breeding program," says Isabel Vales, who joined the Texas A&M potato breeding program in 2017. "I collaborated with him for more than five years while in that position and regularly interacted with him. He was a very caring and compassionate person and a great professional." Surprising to many, Miller bred more than just potatoes. The renowned potato breeder also released Texas Pinkeye Purple Hull and Golden Eye Cream cowpeas, as well as TexSprout mungbean. Not only was Miller an outstanding potato breeder, he was an equally outstanding professor. He was the recipient of the prestigious L.M. Ware Distinguished Teaching Award from the southern region of the American Society for Horticultural Science, and also earned the Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching from the Association of Former Students of Texas A&M University. Miller served as major professor for 23 master's and 16 doctorate students, and was on the graduate advisory committees of over 150 students. Commenting on Miller's role as a graduate advisor, Dan Lineberger, head of Texas A&M's Department of Horticultural Sciences, says, "I expect Creighton might want to be remembered more for the students he mentored than the varieties he released. He was able to teach his students about all phases of potato research, including the laborious but necessary fieldwork, and that always involved a lot of travel time. That was time well spent, as Creighton developed a very close relationship with all of his students. They developed into outstanding professionals under his guidance." Miller will be nominated as a professor emeritus at Texas A & M in January. From left, Reveille Russet, Harlequin Gold, Yellow Rose Russet and Vanguard Russet are among the most successful potato varieties developed by Miller's breeding team at Texas A&M.

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