Jack Miller Awarded American Legion’s Distinguished Service Medal
The Distinguished Service Medal is the highest honor bestowed by The American Legion, recognizing individuals and organizations that have performed outstanding service to the nation and to programs of The American Legion. This award has been presented to several U.S. Presidents in addition to other notable recipients.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Philadelphia, PA – Jack Miller, the founding chairman of the Jack Miller Center, has been awarded the prestigious Distinguished Service Medal by The American Legion for his outstanding philanthropic contributions and unwavering commitment to advancing American citizenship and education. He will receive this esteemed recognition during The American Legion’s annual convention held in New Orleans on August 27, 2024.
“The Distinguished Service Medal is the honor of a lifetime,” Jack Miller said. “This country has given me the freedoms and opportunities to live a great life. America is a land of hope and opportunity largely because of the brave men and women who have fought to defend her. I deeply admire The American Legion’s commitment to strengthening our country through civic education, and I believe this recognition highlights the important role civic education plays in fostering a healthy, patriotic society. I am humbled to accept this award on behalf of both myself and The Jack Miller Center, from one of the finest civic organizations representing our nation’s veterans.”
The Distinguished Service Medal is the highest honor bestowed by The American Legion, recognizing individuals and organizations that have performed outstanding service to the nation and to programs of The American Legion. Previous recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal include military leaders such as George Marshall and Colin Powell, icons of American culture like Bob Hope and Babe Ruth, and multiple U.S. Presidents including Ronald Reagan and Harry Truman.
A May 2024 resolution approved by the National Executive Committee of The American Legion, describes the selection of Miller as consistent with the principles, purposes and traditions of the award. The resolution emphasized that the award should be given to someone who has demonstrated exemplary commitment to community, state, and nation through philanthropic work and a dedication to American civic education. Miller’s successful business career and investment in strengthening America’s youth were highlighted as key factors in the decision.
Miller, who is widely esteemed for his work to revive and advocate for civic education, is the founder and chairman emeritus of The Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History. He launched the organization in 2004 to improve the teaching of our country’s founding ideas, documents and history. Thanks to his extraordinary vision and leadership, the Jack Miller Center has been advancing America’s founding principles and history on college campuses and in K-12 classrooms across the country for nearly 20 years.
“This is a well-deserved recognition of a lifetime of patriotic service to our nation,” said Hans Zeiger, the president of the Jack Miller Center. “The American Legion is one of the premier organizations for civic formation in this country. Their recognition of Jack’s tireless work on behalf of America’s civic future is an unparalleled honor. All of us at JMC are incredibly proud.”
For media inquiries or further information, please contact:
Marlee Promisel: media@gojmc.org
More about Jack Miller and The American Legion
Learn more about Jack Miller, his work at the Jack Miller Center, and The American Legion.
About Jack Miller
Jack Miller is a prominent Chicago entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the founder and former President/CEO of Quill Corporation, which became the nation’s largest independent direct marketer of office products, employing over 1,300 people with annual sales in excess of $630 million. He sold Quill to Staples in 1998.
Jack was inducted into Philanthropy World magazine’s Hall of Fame in 2008 and has received multiple awards, including the Joseph H. Kanter Citizen of the Year Award in 2012 at the annual meeting of the National Conference on Citizenship. Jack is the author of Simply Success and Born to be Free. He is an active philanthropist who serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Jack Miller Center, President of the Jack Miller Family Foundation, and a partner at the Benida Group.
About the Jack Miller Center
The Jack Miller Center is a Philadelphia-based educational nonprofit committed to solving the national crisis of uninformed citizenship by teaching America’s founding principles and history. The Jack Miller Center supports a national network of American civics educators, philanthropists, and leaders through professional development programs, research support, networking opportunities, online resources, and more.
About The American Legion
The American Legion is the largest wartime veterans service organization with more than 1.6 million members in roughly 12,000 posts across the nation. Chartered by Congress in 1919, The American Legion is committed to mentoring youth and sponsoring wholesome community programs, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting a strong national security and continued devotion to servicemembers and veterans.
