Millie Russell doesn't have perfect pitch. For the many organizations and hundreds of people who for years have benefited from her tireless volunteer efforts, that's a good thing.
Officially, Russell is an assistant to the vice president for minority affairs and a biology lecturer. More telling is the professional objective listed on her curriculum vitae: in a nutshell, to help disadvantaged and minority youths complete undergraduate, graduate and professional programs so they can assume leadership positions to serve those who lack services.
She has worked toward that end in countless hours spent in service to numerous organizations. They include the Washington State Association of Black Professionals in Health Care; Blacks in Science (where she co-founded the annual Ron McNair Camp-In at Pacific Science Center); and memberships in the Association of Women in Science; the National Association of Medical Minority Educators; and the Seattle/Mombasa (Kenya) and Seattle/Limbe (Cameroon) sister city associations. Her unflagging toil on behalf of such groups has earned Russell the UW 2004 Outstanding Public Service Award.
"I feel like a catalyst in many ways," she said. "Some of these I'm not involved in every week, or even every month. Some of these just take up a specific portion of the year. I just stay plugged in and if they need something on campus they can call me."
Russell grew up in Seattle's Central Area, one of seven children in a family with a strong spiritual sense and an emphasis on education, leadership and helping others. There also was a strong music background, and the family came to know Marian Anderson, the famed opera contralto, and Paul Robeson, the renowned singer and actor.
As it turned out, four of Russell's sisters could sit down at a piano and play what they had just heard on the radio. That talent earned them piano lessons and opened the possibility of careers in music.
"I didn't get lessons because I didn't have perfect pitch," Russell said with a quick laugh. "But I wasn't considered a complete loser and I took dance lessons. Most people wouldn't believe it now, but I was very shy in those days, and those dance lessons really helped me to blossom."
With all the interest in entertainment, Russell's mother was adamant that one of her children be involved in science. That fell to Russell after her sister Florence, studying to be a doctor, was stricken with cancer and died in her third year of college. Russell earned a degree at Seattle University and began a career in health care, including a long association with the King County Central Blood Bank and its successor, the Puget Sound Regional Blood Center.
In 1974 she came to the UW as director of the Preprofessional Program for Minority Students in Health Sciences. She earned a master's degree in kinesiology from the UW in 1982 and a doctorate in education in 1988, all while continuing her work with students and her involvement with a variety of organizations.
There is little doubt she has left an indelible mark. Pollene Speed McIntyre, a UW graduate and director of the Dental Assistant Program at Seattle Vocational Institute, was one of the first two recipients of a scholarship from a fund that Russell organized.
"Without Millie's help, I would not have been able to attend dental school," McIntyre wrote in a letter supporting Russell's nomination. "I am now a member of the University's Dental School Admissions Committee, the Seattle District New Dental Hygiene Steering Committee and hold several other positions in the community and Dental Society that impact the lives of many people. Millie's contributions to students, families and the community are not limited to one specific area or time period, but span many generations."
That's the sort of thing her parents had in mind for their children, Russell said. Even though they didn't have much money, she recalled, they found other ways to give.
"There was leadership, there was community service all around us," she said. "They wanted us to be self-sufficient so that we didn't have to ‘work in Miss Ann's kitchen.' There was never pressure to get married, so when we went to college we went to get an education, and we took it back to the community."
