Mr. Millet celebrated his 75th birthday in 1992; more than 400 friends joined him from across the country and around the world at the Harvard Club for the event, where Mr. Millet presided over what he later referred to as his “first wake.” He thanked each of the 400 guests for their presence with hand-written notes—penned in calligraphy one by one over the months after the party.
In May 2002, Mr. Millet received the Milton Medal, Milton Academy’s most prestigious award. The Milton Medal recognizes an individual who embodies the Milton spirit, and personifies the standards which we all strive to achieve, as demonstrated through extraordinary service to Milton.
When he awarded the Medal, President of the Board H. Marshall Schwarz said, “How has Mr. Millet amassed this enormous collective affection and admiration that he certainly did not obviously cultivate? His quiet power is rooted in deceptively simple virtues spun out consistently, over many hundreds of relationships, with tentative, growing, young people. Humble, insightful, honest, caring, witty and loyal, Mr. Millet has an uncanny ability to give students what they need, in a given moment and for a lifetime. He did it in a thousand small ways: teaching squash to an unathletic novice; setting out milk and cookies in his apartment every Friday night; enduring pizza with his team; appearing at the side of the field for a word with the football coach before every game; lending a wise and calming word to a parent; giving comforting distractions to a homesick boy; singling out someone passing by for a comment; sending a hand-written card. What fun it was to receive an envelope or postcard with that unmistakable handwriting. It always made me smile.”
In 2005, Mr. Millet received Middlesex’s Henry Cabot Lodge ’20 Distinguished Alumni Award. Established in 1993, the award pays tribute to Middlesex alumni who have brought credit to their alma mater. As a young man at the school, Mr. Millet served as editor of The Anvil, class president, and played tennis and squash.
In June 2007, Mr. Millet celebrated his 90th with more than 500 of his former students on campus during Reunion Weekend. In recognition of both Mr. Millet’s years of service and his 90th birthday, friends and former students joined together to establish the Frank D. Millet Scholarship. The Scholarship fittingly complements the already-endowed Millet Chair in Admission. The Frank D. Millet Scholarship recognizes “a student who demonstrates high moral integrity, is supportive of classmates, and has established meaningful relationships with peers and faculty. The Millet Scholar is a student who, by virtue of his or her character and deeds is an integral member of his or her Class and holds great promise as a leader.” Milton named the first Millet Scholar in 2009, and has since named a Scholar annually.
In 2008, Fritz Hobbs, president of the board, dedicated a new dormitory, Millet House, in Mr. Millet’s honor. “Mr. Millet began at Milton teaching sixth graders in 1942, and then he spent 63 years at the Upper School, teaching and coaching, and mentoring. Mr. Millet has always been an absolutely reliable model of the highest standards; he taught by example most powerfully. Except for one year in Upton House, Mr. Millet was in Robbins House—he was a floor master in those days— from the 1940s through 1971. Mr. Millet has been particularly sensitive to the challenges of living away from home and he always supported students in the kindest and most subtle ways, quietly doing exactly what each person needed to gain confidence in himself and a pathway at Milton. As he is now, he was witty commentator on life, who helped students sort out their lives. Mr. Millet believes in young people, he values them, and he trusts them. It’s no wonder that he has earned the love and loyalty of thousands of graduates.”
I had the good fortune to be one of Frank Millet’s students during his first year of teaching, at the Waring School For Boys in Santa Fe in 1941-42. Even then, he showed the thoughtfulness, sensitivity, and humor that endeared him to generations of students at Milton. Two years ago, I sent him a photo I’d rediscovered of him tweaking the nose of a giggling third-grade classmate of mine. Mr. Millet thanked me for the photo and identified the classmate. I was delighted to re-connect with this wonderful man, and only wish we had managed to get together once more.