Competitive Spirit
Suzanne Miller with one of her American saddle horses (Image by Amy Schromm)
If idle hands are the devil’s workshop, don’t expect Old Nick to knock on Suzanne Miller’s door. Miller, ’74 LAS, MD ’78 UIC, MS ’14 UIC, recently retired from her five-decades-long career as a pediatrician, but she hasn’t succumbed to What Will I Do Now syndrome. Busy seems to be her natural state.
Over the years, Miller has more or less simultaneously filled her days as a physician, wife and mother of two. For most of that time, she showed American saddle horses, competing in hundreds of equestrian events across the country. “I have a room at home where I’ve hung all my ribbons,’’ she says. “I don’t know what else to do with them.’’ For six years, she also bred the stylish horses at a 60-stall ranch in Minnesota that she owned and operated with her husband Dave Noll, ’75 ENG, a mechanical engineer, whom she met at Illinois during Freshman Week in 1971.
“I was raised to compete. I enjoyed being recognized. Once you develop that appetite, it stays with you, only you do it for yourself, and not for parents or teachers.’’ —Suzanne Miller, ’74 LAS, MD ’78 UIC, MS ’14 UIC
“I loved competing,’’ Miller says. “I was raised to compete. We were raised to excel in school. We grew up during the space race, we were encouraged to be scientists. I enjoyed being recognized. Once you develop that appetite, it stays with you, only you do it for yourself, and not for parents or teachers.’’
In 2019, Miller began rechanneling her competitive spirit into a new arena. “American saddle horses are fast and high-stepping, and riding them is not for the timid. I had to make some concessions to age.’’ She began to show dogs. She has four—two of whom compete in agility drills on teeter totters and other pieces of equipment, and two of whom mentor confirmation shows where they compete for best in breed. “It’s very time-consuming,’’ Miller says. “I have to devote attention to each of them individually every day, to make sure they stay sharp and listen to commands. That not only makes them better competitors, but also better companions.’’
After competing in hundreds of equestrian events and winning a roomful of ribbons, Miller switched to dog shows. “I had to make some concessions to age,” she says. (Image by Amy Schromm)
The dogs have won their share of events, but winning is almost beside the point. “The shows are a great place to meet people,’’ Miller says. “That’s something I used to get from working, interacting with colleagues and patients. But I’ve met so many people who come from different backgrounds than me, and have different interests. But we all care about the dogs and that helps us connect.’’
Showing dogs and caring for horses hardly exhausts Miller’s interests. Until COVID put a crimp in their wanderlust, Miller and her husband made frequent use of the Alumni Association’s EXPLORERS travel program. Miller is also a member of the Benedictine Monastery in St. Joseph, Mo., drawn to the order’s principles of prayer, meditation and education. And lest she ever be caught doing nothing, Miller also knits, quilts and crochets.
“I was raised in Park Forest, Ill., a place filled with cookie-cutter houses and conformist views,” Miller says. She notes that sociologist William Whyte used what he found in Park Forest as the basis for The Organization Man, his 1956 bestseller that argued that people were more fulfilled serving a group than their own creativity. “But going to U of I opened my eyes. I saw that being exposed to different ideas and interests makes life more interesting.’’
