A&S Class of ’24: Sean Miller Brings Some Drama to Math and Computer Science
Echols Scholar, Jefferson Scholar and College Science Scholar, Sean Miller will complete majors in math and computer science as well as a minor in drama this spring.
In high school, Miller – who built his first computer when he was 12 – wanted to go to an engineering school to focus on computer science, and if he hadn’t chosen UVA, he feels that’s what would have happened.
“As an Echols scholar, I’ve been able to pursue vastly different things all at the same time, which has been really awesome,” Miller said. “What attracted me to UVA were those broad opportunities. I really like how the Echols Scholars and the Jefferson Scholars program has given me the opportunity to pursue all of my interests, and even as a high schooler, I could see that I could do all of that at UVA.”
As an undergraduate, Miller has spent time at UVA as a member of the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, which he joined his first year. Since then, he has served two terms as vice president, running the organization’s speaker series, and has brought a total of 21 guest speakers to Grounds, including UVA president Jim Ryan.
“I was able to organize a standing-room only audience for Jim Ryan, and we inducted him as an honorary member of the society,” Miller said. “That was one of my favorite nights at UVA.”
Miller has also been involved in Virginia Mock Trial at UVA, which gave him the chance to use his acting skills during the COVID lockdown when the theaters were closed, and he has been involved in research with the Department of Computer Science’s FloodWatch group that uses AI to predict flooding and to inform communities about the impacts of climate change, an opportunity to use what he was learning in the classroom in the real world.
And though technology was his first love, he’s also drawn to the analytical thinking of math and the performance aspects of drama and the opportunities it offers for working collaboratively with others.
“The UVA Department of Drama has been my favorite part of my UVA experience,” Miller said. “It’s such a tight-knit community, and there are so many opportunities to perform, to write and to help other people produce their work. I’ve really enjoyed that.”
After graduation, he’ll start his career with Oliver Wyman, a management consulting company with offices in Washington, DC, where he feels the combination of interests he has pursued at UVA make him uniquely qualified not just to solve his client’s problems but to engage with them effectively.
Miller is especially eager to start his career even though he didn’t know much, if anything, about it just a year ago.
“Between the start of last spring semester and the end of the semester, I went from not knowing that the field existed to ‘I’m really interested in this, and I’d love to do it,’” Miller said.
Now that he has a career path in mind, Miller may also consider pursuing an MBA, but acting is certainly in his future plans too.
“That’s something you can do at any age,” Miller said.
