Distinguished Alumnus:
Thomas Millea '72
BA, History
Thomas Millea graduated from the School of Arts & Sciences in 1972 with a degree in history. He had dabbled with various types or art available at the university during is tenure, but did not find a "home," although he did find an interest in theatre, something he was counseled to not pursue.
It was only when Professor Hal Greenwald gave him his first camera and when professors Truman Warner and Lee Jacobus gave their time and nurturance to this blooming artist that he began to find his way — a way that became his life work.
Tom has become an internationally recognized photographer, known for the spiritual quality of his work and his use of the nineteenth century process of "platinum printing." He has held more than 92 exhibitions, and his work has been shown in over 20 major museum collections around the world, including the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Smithsonian's National Gallery of American Art in Washington DC, and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. His work is also shown in major museums in England, Australia, France and Canada, and in private collections across the continents.
His photographic art has an expressive, reconnecting resonance, whether it is his soft, warm cloudscapes and cathedral views, or his portraits of a grandmother with her infant grandchild. The sense of unity, eternity and the human condition come through vividly in the rich warmth of his collections.
