In Memoriam

Mike M. Milstein, the first chair of GSE’s former Department of Educational Organization, Administration and Policy, died on March 12 in New Zealand, where he had lived for 20 years. He was 83.

Milstein began his career in education as a social studies teacher in the Minneapolis Public Schools. After receiving his PhD in educational administration from UC Berkeley, he joined UB’s faculty as an assistant professor of educational administration. He was named an associate professor in 1971 and from 1976-85 held the position of professor. He was the first chair of EOAP (now the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy) from 1982-85.

Milstein served on the faculty of the University of New Mexico from 1985-2000. He was chair (1985-89) and co-chair (1989-91)  in the Department of Educational Administration, and professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Organizational Leadership from 1992-2000.

At UNM, he established himself as a leader in changing preparation programs for educational leaders. He developed an internship program that was a model for other universities preparing leaders for schools. He was a proponent of the use of portfolios for educational leaders in place of the traditional dissertation. His focus was on supporting practitioners who could make a difference in their leadership roles.

From 2000 until his death, Milstein was a partner in the Resiliency Group, Ltd., Albuquerque, N.M and New Zealand.

Milstein was the author or co-author of 13 books, including two on making schools more resilient that he co-authored with his wife, Doris Annie Henry, who is among his survivors. Milstein and Henry met when she was a keynote speaker at a conference that he organized at UNM. They were married for 21 years.