(2004) - North Dakota Entrepreneur Hall of Fame

John E. "Tip" Miller (UHS Class of '53) was inducted into the ND Entrepreneur Hall of Fame for 2004 at award ceremonies in Grand Forks, ND. He received a BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering from NDSU in 1957 and a reserve officer commission in the U.S. Army.

In 1958, he moved to St. Paul, MN and worked for Univac Defense Systems. In 1969, John and a team of Univac engineers founded Atron Corporation, designing and manufacturing commercial computers. As Atron's Director of Manufacturing,

John established a low cost manufacturing plant on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation near Belcourt in 1971. Three years later the Belcourt plant became Turtle Mountain Corporation under the leadership of President John Miller. The reorganization was so successful that the company leased a larger facility from the city of Dunseith. In 2000 Turtle Mountain Corporation became a wholly owned subsidiary of Pemstar, Inc. of Rochester, MN.

 Miller is active in his church and sings in the choir. He is also actively involved in establishing the Underwood Foundation to support the Underwood School. Golf, time at the lake or Florida are his other pasttimes.  His recent induction into the Hall of Fame is in recognition of his long-standing entrepreneurial contributions to the state and nation.