User:Ron Miller illustrator-author

Born 8 May 1947 in Minneapolis, Minnesota; raised in Columbus, Ohio.

Graduate of the Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, Ohio: BFA in illustration (minor in advertising).

Before and after graduation worked as an illustrator/designer for several commercial art studios in Ohio before joining the staff of the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum as art director for the Albert Einstein Planetarium. There he was responsible for planetarium show design, publications and exhibits. Since leaving the museum in 1977 he has freelanced as Black Cat Studios, specializing in astronomical, science and science fiction artwork for books and magazine articles; he is the author or editor of more nearly fifty non-fiction books and novels of his own. He lives in South Boston, Virginia with his wife Judith and two cats.

Memberships: Fellow, British Interplanetary Society. Life member and Trustee: International Association for the Astronomical Arts. Member, International Academy of Astronautics (Committee on Arts and Literature). Honorary Member, Sociétè Jules Verne. Member, North American Jules Verne Society.

General Information: Contributing Editor, Air & Space magazine. Author, coauthor or editor of approximately 40 books for publishers such as Workman, Lerner, Macmillan, Golden Press, Krieger, etc. Book jackets and interior art for numerous publishers, including National Geographic Society, Golden Books, Macmillan, Doubleday, Tor, Ace, Berkley, Warner, Time-Life, Easton Press, Rand McNally, Lerner, Chelsea House, etc., and magazines such as Scientific American, Astronomy, Smithsonian, Science et Vie, Sky & Telescope, Geo, etc. bibliography Designer of ten-stamp set of commemorative US postage stamps (Space Exploration series, October 1991). (One of these stamps is currently on board the New Horizons spacecraft bound for Pluto.) Contributor to the President's National Commission on Space (Paine Commission) and NASA's Solar System Exploration Committee, 1986. Consultant for Walt Disney Imagineering. Production illustrator for the Dino DeLaurentiis productions of Dune and Total Recall. Visual consultant for George Miller's Contact. Pre-production artist for David Lynch (Ronnie Rocket) and special effects matte artist for John Ellis (Twilight of the Dogs, etc.). Conceptual art and consultation for James Cameron and Chris Walas. Designed, co-wrote and co-directed Impact!, a CGI show ride film for SimEx Digital (1999). Production designer for several films for Unified Film Organization.Filmography Participant in the NASA Fine Arts Program. Participant in the Cosmos Forum, Moscow, October 1987; first joint US/Soviet space art workshop, Iceland, July 1988; second joint US/Soviet space art workshop, Senezh, USSR, April 1989. Artist-in-residence and lecturer, International Space University, Boston, Massachusetts,Summer 1988; Strasbourg, France, Summer 1989; Toulouse, France, Summer 1991. Faculty member (art history), International Space University, Kitakyushu, Japan, Summer 1992 and Huntsville, Alabama, Summer 1993. Participant and lecturer at The Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena International Conference, Vatican Observatory, Summer 1994. Frank R. Paul Award for Outstanding Achievement in Science Fiction Art, Nashville, 1988. Recipient of the Lucien Rudaux Memorial Award, IAAA, 2003. Original paintings in public and private collections worldwide, including the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institution, NASA and the Pushkin Museum, Moscow.

Awards and Commendations: Lucien Rudaux Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Astronomical Art, IAAA, 2003. Frank R. Paul Award for Outstanding Achievement in Science Fiction Art, Nashville, 1988. Hugo Award for Best Related Work, 2002: The Art of Chesley Bonestell. Award of Excellence in Science Writing from American Institute of Physics, 2003: Worlds Beyond series. Nominee for 1982 Hugo Award for best nonfiction for The Grand Tour. Ten Best Books of the Year, 1984 --Astronomical Society of the Pacific: Out of the Cradle. Ten Best Books of the Year, 1987 --Astronomical Society of the Pacific: Cycles of Fire. Outstanding Science Trade Book --National Science Teachers Assoc./Children's Book Council, 1987: Stars and Planets. New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age, 1992: The History of Earth. IAF Manuscript Award. Booklist Editor's Award, 1994: The Dream Machines. New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age, 2000: Rockets. Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year, 2005: Venus. National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) / Children's Book Council (CBC) Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12, 2005: The Elements. VOYA Nonfiction Honor List, 2009: Digital Art. 2001 Writer's League of Texas Violet Crown Award for best audiofiction: Bradamant.