Harry Willis Miller | |
|---|---|
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| Born | July 1, 1879 |
| Died | January 1, 1977 |
| Occupation(s) | Physician, Seventh-day Adventist missionary |
Harry Willis Miller (July 1, 1879 – January 1, 1977) was an American physician, thyroid surgeon and Seventh-day Adventist missionary. Miller was a vegetarian and pioneer in the development of soy milk.[1]
Miller was born in Ludlow Falls, Ohio on July 1, 1879.[2] He graduated M.D. from the American Medical Missionary College in Battle Creek, in 1902.[2][3] Miller studied at Rush Medical College and authored an article on blastomycetes in the Journal of Dermatology in 1903.[4] With his wife Maude Thompson Miller, he went to Shanghai in 1903. She died less than two years later from sprue.[4] Miller married Marie Iverson in 1908 and he remained in China until 1956.[3] He specialized in surgery and as a missionary generalist. He served as a leader of the SDA Church in China.[3] It is estimated that Miller performed 6,000 thyroid operations.[5]
He served as superintendent of the China Mission in Shanghai (1908-1909) and established the China Training Institute in Chouchiakou.[4] He returned to the United States in 1911. Miller was medical director and secretary of Washington Sanitarium (1913–1925).[4] He returned to China in 1925 and managed the Shanghai Hospital and Sanitarium. Miller researched the production of soy milk and published an article in the Chinese Medical Journal on a soy infant formula in 1936.[4] Miller is credited in 1936 with starting the first production of soy milk in Shanghai.[6]
Miller returned to the United States in 1939. He was medical director of Mount Vernon Hospital and established the International Nutrition Laboratory to produce soy products.[4] With his son he formed the International Nutrition Foundation on a 140-acre farm in Mount Vernon.[1] The soy farm produced canned and malted soy milk. His first American soy milk product was known as Soyalac in 1941.[1]
Miller administered hospitals in Shanghai, Hankou and Hubei. He established the Taiwan Adventist Hospital in 1949.[3] He sold his factory, land, and soy milk products to Loma Linda Foods in 1951. Loma Linda Foods was owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.[7] However, Miller continued to conduct research in at Loma Linda Food factory in La Sierra until his death.[2] In 1956, he was awarded the Blue Star of China by Chiang Kai-shek.[3] In 1960, Miller helped in forming the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital.[5] In total there were 19 hospitals that Miller was instrumental in starting all over the Far East.[2]
A biography of Miller was published in 1961.[8] Miller died in Riverside, California on January 1, 1977.[2]
Miller stated that he became a vegetarian for its health and longevity aspects.[9] He was a pioneer in popularizing soy milk as a satisfactory substitute for animal milk and making it available to feed the poor in areas where there was no cow's milk.[5][10] He conducted research on vegetarian meat substitutes and proteins. He was influential in bringing soy-based foods to the United States.[1]