This scholarship is awarded annually to two CSPP-San Diego students each semester who are conducting research in the area of psychosocial oncology or life-threatening diseases and related psychological and psychosocial interventions.

Ferne Miller completed her undergraduate work at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1985.  Not missing a beat in her education, Ferne began her graduate studies at the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) in San Diego that same year.  Before the end of her second year, this gifted and energetic student was diagnosed for the second time in her young life with cancer.  Tragically, the Hodgkin's disease, which Ferne battled earlier in her life, had returned.

While continuing her studies at CSPP, Ferne took her chemotherapy treatments and worked at The EYE (Escondido Youth Encounter) where she was already considered a wonderful psychologist.  Continuing in her classes to the end, Ferne succumbed to the disease in October of 1987, leaving an indelible and dramatic impat on the faculty, staff, and students who knew her.

In memory of Ferne and her dedication to psychology, her parents, Dr. Edward and Mrs. Leslea Miller, other family members, and friends established the Ferne Miller Memorial Research Fund in 1987.  This Fund began as a substantial source of dissertation support to CSPP students conducting research in the area of psychosocial oncology, including projects that study how psychological and environmental factors may affect the etiology, disease course, and adaption to cancer and other terminal diseases.

The Fund has grown over the years, and recently the Miller family has decided to broaden the focus to support dissertations across the spectrum of clinical psychology.