St. Olaf College and the Lutheran World Federation Service to Refugees

Olaf Millert

By Ella Nielsen

Overview

Olaf Millert was a deeply beloved Professor at St. Olaf for 43 years. His impact on students and fellow faculty alike was widespread and long-lasting, cementing his legacy in both the Northfield and St. Olaf communities. 

Olaf Millert was born on September 6, 1924, in Tallinn, Estonia. His family’s home was destroyed by a Soviet Air Force terror attack during World War II, which destroyed much of the city and killed thousands. Millert’s father, a successful businessman, was forced to flee to a nearby farm to avoid Soviet capture. Millert and his mother remained in Tallinn so he could continue his education. In 1944, with the Soviet army advancing across Estonia, Olaf and his parents left Estonia and fled to Germany. They remained there for several years as refugees in Displaced Persons camps.1

It was there in Erlangen, Germany, that Millert continued his studies at Friedrich Alexander University. He studied there for three years. In 1949, Millert received sponsorship through the Lutheran World Federation to study in the United States. He attended Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in 1950 and a Master’s Degree from the University of South Dakota. Millert continued graduate studies at the University of Minnesota before receiving his PhD from Harvard University. 

Olaf Millert became a US citizen in 1955 and continued his scholarly pursuits as a Fulbright visiting professor at the University of Tampere in Finland, and was also a guest research scholar at the University of Strasbourg in France. 

Olaf Millert
Olaf Millert

Millert and St. Olaf

At St. Olaf, Professor Millert was impactful and well-loved. He founded the St. Olaf Psychology Department in 1960, and in 1969 was promoted to full professor. He taught personality and social psychology until his retirement in 1995. Millert was also the Fulbright Program Advisor and Coordinator of the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows Program. Millert has three endowments at St. Olaf: the G. Allport Award, which goes to two psychology students, the Juta R. Millert Memorial Speaker Series in Psychology, which supports an annual lecture and is named for his wife, and the Olaf and Juta Millert Endowment, intended for Estonian students to study at St. Olaf, but has also helped support students from neighboring countries.2 


Professor Millert maintained extended connections with his students, retaining correspondence with them long after their graduation. As the Millerts did not have children of their own, students were an integral part of the family. In these ways, Olaf Millert left a profound impact on the St. Olaf community, inspiring and supporting students, and cultivating lifelong friendships that enriched students’ lives beyond their time on campus. 

Sources

  1. “Dr. Olaf W. Millert Obituary”, Minnesota Star Tribune, February 16, 2017, https://obituaries.startribune.com/.
  2. Paula Skaggs, “Psychology Dept. Founder Honored at Harvard University,” The Manitou Messenger  (Northfield, MN), April 8th, 2011,  https://dlib.eastview.com/browse/doc/44512764. (Link requires St. Olaf login)
  3. “Dr. Olaf W. Millert Obituary”, Minnesota Star Tribune, February 16, 2017, https://obituaries.startribune.com/. 
Bibliography

Photos

  1. Olaf Millert, gelatin silver print, Folder “Millert, Dr. Olaf”, Northfield Historical Center, Northfield, MN.
  2. “Millert,” Viking Yearbook, St. Olaf College, 1967, p.69

 

 

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Acknowledgments

St. Olaf College