NIU political science professor Jon Miller has been chosen as the national lecturer for Sigma Xi, the national scientific honorary society dedicated to promote research, until 1991.

Each year, the Sigma Xi Lectureship Program chooses a number of leading scientists and teachers all across the country, said Steve Franklin of the NIU Office of Public Information.

Scientists and teachers willing to lecture address Sigma Xi chapters and other groups at university campuses and scientific laboratories throughout the nation.

A lecturer may receive invitations to two or three lectures in a single trip, allowing for about 20 lectures a year, Miller said.

A premise of a democratic society is that the citizens understand the democracy, said Miller. “Voters are the final decision plate” in a democracy, he added.

Miller directs the NIU Public Opinion Laboratory and is a specialist in measuring public attitudes and the formulation of science policy in democratic political systems. He polls adults and young adults on their knowledge of science, math and political policy, he said.

Miller said preserving the democracy will be difficult unless people know more about the sciences. “A larger number of important political issues will involve science and technology in the future,” he said.

“Citizenship in an Age of Science” and “The American People and Science Policy” are two books Miller has had published. He is currently working on a third book, “Scientific Literacy in the United States,” to be published in February or March 1990 by Plenum Publishing.

Miller received a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University, a master’s degree from the University of Chicago and a doctorate from Northwestern University.