Ambassador Miller resigns for university job

WASHINGTON — Ambassador John Miller, a former Washington state congressman who leads U.S. efforts to combat human trafficking, is resigning to join the faculty of George Washington University.

Miller, who has headed the State Department's anti-slavery office since 2002, also will serve as a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute in Seattle. His last day at the State Department will be Dec. 15.

Miller, 68, said he considers his job unusual and important, noting that the United States and Sweden are the only nations with diplomatic offices aimed specifically at human trafficking, the modern-day slave trade in prostitutes, child sex workers and forced laborers.

"I've interpreted the mission as nurturing and promoting the United States in the lead of a 21st-century abolitionist movement," Miller said. "I believe that's the mission the president wants; it's what the Congress on bipartisan basis has wanted and what the [non-governmental organizations] have wanted."

George Washington President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg said he was thrilled Miller was joining the faculty of the university's Elliott School of International Affairs, where he will teach a course in human trafficking.

"Ambassador John Miller's distinguished career in the battle against modern-day slavery adds yet another dimension" to the university, Trachtenberg said in a statement. "He will have an impact for generations to come."

Miller, a Republican, represented the Seattle area in Congress from 1985-93, serving on the House International Relations Committee. He later chaired the Discovery Institute, a nonpartisan public-policy think tank conducting research on technology, science and culture, economics and foreign affairs, before joining the State Department in late 2002.