 Emily Miller Named 2008
John Batley Award Recipient
April 16, 2008 - One of the traditional highlights of the PAISBOA Annual Meeting is the presentation of the John Batley Award, our highest honor. A former CFO of Westtown School, recipient of the Visionary Award, and the man for whom the John Batley Award was created, John’s legacy is one of selfless giving and inclusion in PAISBOA. We celebrate his character, competence, and consistency each year with the selection of the John Batley Award winner.
For 2008, the John Batley Award was presented to Emily Miller, Director of Finance and Operations at Friends’ Central School.
Emily Miller has been a significant contributor to PAISBOA since the beginning of the organization, and a Board Member since 1994. In recent years, in her capacity as Vice Chairman of the Board, she has coordinated the professional development programs of the organization to the point where they have nearly doubled in frequency and attendance under her leadership. She is the epitome of someone who has given much to her profession.
Emily and Friends’ Central School have a long, close, mutually supportive relationship. For the past 21 years, Emily has shepherded the School through remarkable growth and transformation all the while maintaining an unwavering commitment to the School’s Quaker values.
Emily earned her BS from Northeastern in 1973. She came to Friends’ Central in 1986 as Assistant Business Manager. In 1988, she succeeded Lisa Darling as Business Manager, a position she has held since that time. During Emily’s tenure, Friends’ Central has grown from 637 to nearly 1000 students; the staff and faculty have increased in kind; a campus has been added; and numerous physical improvements and additions have been made.
She has overseen the purchase and renovation of the Lower School campus, the renovation of the Middle School, the construction of an Upper School classroom building, a science, math, and technology building, an athletic center and all-weather track, a new facilities building, the creation of a campus green, and the procuring of playing fields from Lankenau Hospital.
Friends’ Central’s stability and success during this period of growth and improvement is due in no small part to Emily’s unique combination of terrific business and financial instincts, a wonderful sense of planning and logistics, and a tremendous attention to the needs of the faculty and staff.
While she has helped guide Friends’ Central, Emily also has maintained an active role in the wider community. She is a founding member of PAISBOA, currently serves as Vice Chairman, and has been a program chair since 1997. She has seen PAISBOA grow from an association of 60 schools with a focus on health insurance, to a consortium of over 135 schools. Emily has brought to this role, as well, her love of a good problem. Headmaster David Felsen says of Emily, “Emily is one of the great problem solvers I have worked with in my career. She works quietly and modestly, but she loves to get her hands around a problem, and she is always coming up with innovative solutions.”
Emily’s two daughters were lifers at Friends’ Central. Helene graduated in 1999 and Laura in 2001. Her husband, Jim Brennan, has been Director of Annual Giving for the past five years. Emily earned her MBA from St. Joe’s in 1994.
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