Professor pair has one big Buckeye family
Gay Miller and Joseph Rosenblatt are paying forward after they raised four daughters during their time at the university, including triplets who each earned advanced degrees from Ohio State.
Gay Miller and Joe Rosenblatt are supporting scholarships at Ohio State, honoring the institution that helped them thrive while faculty members. “We believe in the university’s potential to impact the lives of people across Ohio, the nation and the world,” Gay says. (Photo by Jodi Miller)
From the start of their life together, Gay Miller and husband Joseph Rosenblatt worked hard and maintained a rigorous Ohio State schedule. Each day, Gay attended classes, studying agricultural economics and veterinary science, while Joe taught mathematics. In the evenings, she studied and he did research. “The cadence of our day rarely changed,” recalls Gay ’77, ’81 DVM, ’91 PhD. “We were methodical.”
Their discipline paid off. Gay landed a position as assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, and Joe was promoted to full professor in the math department. And in 1979, they achieved another dream when they welcomed their daughter Audrey.
But four years later, they encountered a challenge that changed everything. Expecting their second child, Gay went for an ultrasound. “As the doctor was running the wand over my abdomen, I saw one baby, then two babies, then three babies,” she says. “The tears started rolling. I thought, ‘That’s the end of my career.’”
How, the couple wondered, would they maintain the work they loved? Would their departments support them? And most important, would their children flourish or would life descend into chaos, the couple’s methodical schedule just dust in the wind?
It turned out everyone thrived. Each of the triplets earned multiple degrees from Ohio State—Ivana ’09 MA, ’15 PhD, Heather ’10 MS, ’13 PhD and Becky ’09 MS, ’12 PhD—while older sister Audrey earned her PhD at Rush University in Chicago. Gay and Joe continued to excel in their careers. They left Ohio State in 1994 to teach at the University of Illinois, but their Buckeye ties remain strong.
Here, the couple share their story—how they leaned on the Ohio State community and family for support and how they are helping others succeed by funding scholarships for Ohio State students.
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Tell us about your experience at Ohio State.
Gay: I grew up in western Ohio and attended rural schools, which lacked resources. I was the first in my family to go to college. I felt like a sponge at Ohio State. I learned so much, and the teaching was phenomenal. I gained an extremely valuable foundation in economics and veterinary medicine. Socially, I loved going to football games and walking at Mirror Lake.
Joe: Ohio State was the start to my career as a research mathematician and teacher. My department was very stimulating, with colleagues from all over the world. I also encountered many bright students, and I’m still in touch with some of them. And of course, Ohio State is where I met Gay. We dated for a year and got married at her parents’ farm in Ohio.
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How were you supported after your triplets were born?
Gay: My department was hugely supportive. They let me work at home during part of my pregnancy, and I went part time after the girls were born. I left work at noon and nursed the babies. I’m a food animal veterinarian, so I told myself, “Think Holstein.” That meant good rest, great food, lots of liquids.
My mother quit her job, and we paid her to help us for two years. After that, all four girls went to day care at Ohio State. It’s a top-notch program, and our girls loved it. With that support, I decided I could boost my career if I got a PhD, so I started my PhD program in agricultural economics and continued to work part time as a faculty member.
Joe: Everyone was excited for us. A few days after the girls were born, I announced their birth to my class, and everyone stood up and applauded. There’s a spirit of connection between students and faculty at Ohio State.
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What was the triplets’ experience like at Ohio State?
Gay: When the girls began considering graduate school, we urged them to look at Ohio State because it’s a large, diverse university, and they each had different interests. They had great experiences and are all using their degrees.
Becky studied physics. She had excellent mentors at Ohio State and loved doing interdisciplinary research. She’s now an analyst for the National Science Foundation.
Ivana studied art history and enjoyed the fantastic campus resources, including the library and special collections. She also played Ultimate Frisbee on the women’s team. Ivana teaches art history at the University of Maryland.
Heather studied math. She had lots of teaching opportunities at Ohio State, which helped her get a job she loves as a course mentor at Western Governors University.
Joe: The girls all received scholarships and were pleased to leave graduate school without debt. Gay got scholarships, too. That’s one of the reasons we’re very interested in supporting scholarships here.
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Could you tell us more about that scholarship support?
Gay: We’ve both worked hard and been fortunate, so it’s wonderful to help students now. We’ve established scholarships in agricultural economics, mathematics and music, and we’ve committed to scholarships in nursing, physics and art history to honor our daughters’ interests. We believe in the university’s potential to impact the lives of people across Ohio, the nation and the world.
Joe: Knowing what Ohio State does for so many students, faculty and the entire community has kept us connected to the university. And it’s part of our personal story. Our daughters were born at University Hospital, our family has nine degrees from Ohio State, and Gay and I started our careers here. We want to join with others in supporting the university.
Gay and Joe’s daughters all received graduate degrees, including six from Ohio State. (Photo courtesy of the family)
