Mary Ellen Miller

Retired Director Lehigh Valley Affiliate BTG

DeSales University

Nursing, Public Health,

Mary Ellen Miller PhD, RN Dr. Mary Ellen Miller is a Registered Nurse who has over thirty years’ experience as a nurse educator, retiring from DeSales University as an Associate Professor. Dr. Miller currently conducts a virtual monthly support group, The Kindred Hearts Circle, for non-grandparents and those who love them. From 2008 to 2023, she directed an interprofessional internship for health professions students, the Lehigh Valley Affiliate of Bridging the Gaps (BTG) and continues her involvement as a consultant for the BTG Lehigh Valley Affiliate. Dr. Miller has authored a non-fiction book, Secret Sorrow: Grieving and healing as a non-grandparent in a grandparenting world, as well as nursing textbook chapters and articles in peer reviewed professional journals and on-line grief newsletters. During her time as a nursing faculty member at LaSalle University and DeSales University, she was active in the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association, the American Public Health Association and the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium where she was accepted on numerous occasions to do both podium and poster presentations for local, regional and national conferences. She also co-authored several federal, state and local grant applications to support student initiatives. Married to her best friend Drew for over four decades, they are enjoying their retirement living in the Pennsylvania mountains where she enjoys gardening, golfing and spending time with her family, friends and Boxer fur-baby.  Mary Ellen’s proudest accomplishment is raising two daughters, Ashley and Amanda, as compassionate women who are committed to social justice. Information about The Kindred Hearts Circle is found on her website: nongrandparent.com