Paul McLaughlin '27 is inaugural winner of the Edward D. and Patricia K. Miller Scholarship

Paul McLaughlin, a Lynch School of Education and Human Development first-year student, is the inaugural winner of the Edward D. and Patricia K. Miller Scholarship, an annual award to celebrate the good sportsmanship and Jesuit values for which “Eddie” Miller ’57, M.B.A.’68, Ph.D. ’90—a legendary figure in BC Athletics and at the University—and his late son, John D. Miller ’84, were so well known.

The scholarship was established in 2022 by the Miller family—including Eddie’s wife, Patricia, the scholarship’s co-namesake—to honor Eddie’s BC legacy, as well as his hometown of Dorchester, and the family’s longtime Milton, Mass., residence. Eddie died in 2022; John died on March 20, 2023.

Milton resident McLaughlin, a 2023 graduate of Boston College High School, is an elementary education major, and plans to teach.  While at BCH, he participated in a weeklong service immersion trip at the Brady Faith Center in Syracuse, N.Y., where he and his fellow students helped construct a house for low-income residents, assisted in farm work, and volunteered at a new supermarket in a neighborhood that was formerly a “food desert.”

He also served as a mission leader at Milton’s St. Agatha’s Parish, where he would meet with other young people to plan local service events, such as to support a lunch program for the homeless, Catholic Charities Food Pantry, clothing drives, and yard work for the elderly. He also played baseball and ran cross country for BCH.

“The Miller family is delighted to select Paul as the initial scholarship winner,” said Michelle Miller M.A.’91, Eddie’s daughter.  “Paul is as an exemplary scholar athlete, and a person of great character and resilience. He has a deep reverence for Jesuit values and strives to be a man for others, just as John and Eddie were. The Miller family is committed to carrying on the legacies of both men, and we look forward to Paul’s certain success as an educator, and as an Eagle.”

“Paul is one of the nicest young men I have worked with in my 22 years at BC High,” said Judith C. Fargo, a BCH college counselor.  “He is kind, caring, faithful and generous; he is truly a man for others. If he stays with his plan to become an elementary school teacher, there will be generations children who will be blessed to have him as their teacher and role model.”

Eddie Miller graduated from Boston’s English High School, where he starred in baseball, hockey, and football. After serving in the Korean War, he entered BC in the fall of 1953, where he made an immediate impression on the Eagles’ baseball team as a good-hitting left fielder with exemplary defensive skills. Stricken by polio in July 1955, Miller spent the next 10 months in the Boston Veterans’ Hospital, keeping pace with his BC course work by listening to reel-to-reel tapes of his classes until he could return to campus the following May.

With his athletic career over, but his unbridled optimism and fierce determination fully intact, he was elected president of his senior class and spearheaded the student fundraising effort to build Alumni Stadium. During the campaign, he met BC Athletic Director William Flynn ’39, who offered Miller the position of athletics business manager.  Three years later, he was promoted to BC’s sports information director, and came to be considered one of the country’s top SIDs. He later served as the University spokesperson, spending his entire career at BC until his retirement in 1996.  

Miller’s numerous awards and acknowledgements included induction into the BC Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame, the Park League Hall of Fame, as well as the Sports Information Director Award from the All-American Football Foundation, and the Press Box Award from the New England Writers.

Eddie Miller Jr. ’81 said such honors, while gratifying, did not totally define his father’s life: “It was his undeniable charisma, his irrepressible spirit, his courage and determination, his boundless love for Boston College and the Society of Jesus and, above all, his unconditional love for and devotion to his family.”  

John, an alumnus of BCH as well as BC, had a long and fulfilling career in commercial real estate as senior vice president of Lincoln Property Company, one of the nation’s largest diversified real estate services companies.  His father’s long association with Boston College inspired him to support BC athletics from a young age—a passion he shared with his three children, all of whom are BC graduates. He loved the City of Boston, all Boston sports teams, and summers at his home on Martha’s Vineyard, according to family members.  

“It has meant the world to me to connect with the Miller family, and it’s an honor to represent the legacy, spirit, passion, and love that Eddie Miller brought to the Heights,” said McLaughlin, who was presented with the scholarship last fall.  “His example of overcoming adversity, and his legendary dedication to his community inspires me day in and day out as I walk through the BC campus.  I truly appreciate the Miller family’s generosity more than words can convey.”  

For more information on Eddie Miller’s legacy at BC, visit edmpkmscholars.org.