Daniel Russell McMillan Jr.

Born: Wesley Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, GA to Daniel Russell McMillan, Sr. and Leonora Johnson Smith McMillan

William Bass High School, Atlanta, GA (May 19, 1953)

Bachelor of Arts Emory University, Atlanta, GA (August 18, 1956)

Master of Arts University of Wisconsin-Madison (June 21, 1957)

Doctorate of Mathematics (Ph.D.) University of Wisconsin-Madison (June 6, 1960)

Princeton Institute of Advanced Study (September 1962 to June 1964) and (August 1969 to June 1970)

Associate Professor of Mathematics University of Virginia (1964 to June 30, 1966)

Married Evelyn Francis Rupard (June 4, 1965)

Professor Emeritus University of Wisconsin-Madison (1966-1997)

Husband, Father, Grandfather, and Pinball Wizard

On Tuesday April 21, 2026, Daniel Russell McMillan Jr. was released from his earthly troubles at the age of 91. Russ as he was known to his friends, “Pop Pop” as he was known to his grandchildren, “Dad” as he was known to his only child, Stephen, and “Ruffle” as he was known to his devoted wife, Evelyn, passed quietly in his sleep, finally experiencing peace after a long illness.

Russell was a brilliant academic from an early age: growing up on the college campuses of Georgia Tech and Emory University where his father Daniel Russell Sr. taught physics and mathematics. Russ followed in his father’s footsteps obtaining his Doctorate in mathematics by the age of 25 under the tutelage of the legendary R.H. Bing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

After obtaining his Doctorate degree, Russ spent a number of years as an associate professor at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, which is where he met Evelyn Francis Rupard, a graduate student in mathematics completing her own doctorate degree who was working as a teaching assistant for one of his lectures. Russ’ habit of referring to the various colors of chalk that he used during lectures with fruit names tickled Evelyn’s sense of humor. Romance sparked and they were wed on June 4, 1965.

Changes came to the new couples’ life in 1966 when Russ accepted a tenured position to return to the University of Wisconsin. Evelyn completed her doctoral thesis work there in 1969 and began work as a lecturer in math for the university when they welcomed their first child, Stephen Daniel, during a blizzard in January of 1971. Evelyn has often said that she and Russ had always discussed having two children, but Stephen was as much as two math professors could handle. However, she appreciated the close bond that developed in her home between parent and child by having an only child.

Russ continued to work for the University of Wisconsin for 31 years, retiring in 1997. Despite his love for the math department at the UW, he relished retirement and the ability it gave him to indulge his passion for film, love of new computer technology, and investing. His love of film dated back to childhood. Russ would always get a twinkle in his eye when he spoke of the 10 cent movies he would attend with his close childhood friend, Edward. The boys’ Saturday afternoons would be filled with the movies of Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton, his favorite, while keeping them out of the Georgia heat and confounding Russ’ mother Leonora who felt her son should be outdoors more. This love for film never wavered and Russ was a long-standing patron of Cinematheque on the UW campus and a Roger Ebert devotee. A brain trained in mathematics needed to be kept satisfied so staying up to date with the latest releases from Apple and personal investing helped satiate this need.

Daniel Russell McMillan Jr. was a complex man with a no-nonsense sensibility. His driven intellectual curiosity led him to be well read with an almost encyclopedic knowledge on certain subjects: His grandchildren can attest, for instance, to his affinity for owning a variety of dictionaries. As humans we tell ourselves that “someday” we will read the great authors, emote with the classic poets, experience the artists, and listen to the great musicians. Russ had already read the book, listened to the music, seen the movie, read the poetry, and taken in the exhibit or at least read its review. He was truly representative of those that came of age in the late 1950s and early 1960s: Too old to be part of the counterculture, but too young to fit post-war baby-boom modernism. He embodied a straightforward, commonsense belief system where desire is not a reason for materialism- necessity should be present; where knowledge is an overflowing well from which one should drink as long as they were able; and where truly nurturing spirituality springs from your deeds and the ethics you exemplify that improve the world around as you pass through it and not from public displays of faux religiosity. He modeled his values in every part of his life without a word, but the message he sent was always very clear. The tragedy of the last years of his life is that we were deprived of his mind. The ability to call and see what he thinks has been a hole in all of our hearts. Always the quiet and shy boy from Atlanta, he politely tried to avoid being the focus of attention, but he is deeply missed by all who were lucky enough to truly get to know him.

In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need
When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed
There’s a dyin’ voice within me reaching out somewhere
Toiling in the danger and in the morals of despair

Don’t have the inclination to look back on any mistake
Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break
In the fury of the moment I can see the Master’s hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand

- Bob Dylan

McMillan was a prominent topologist, specializing in the study of 3-manifolds and the properties of geometric shapes that remain unchanged under continuous deformation. Key highlights of his work include:

The McMillan Cellularity Criterion: One of his most significant contributions is a condition (often called the "McMillan Property") used to determine when a subset of a manifold is "cellular," meaning it can be shrunk down to a single point within a neighborhood.

Manifold Decompositions: He published extensive research on the topology of 3-manifolds, including a well-known summary of results on contractible open manifolds.

Collaborations and Influence: His work was foundational during a period of rapid discovery in geometric topology and is frequently cited in “Transactions of the American Mathematical Society <https://www.ams.org/tran/1971-158-02/S0002-9947-1971-0279788-5/>.” [3]

[1] <https://math.wisc.edu/staff/mcmillan-d-russell-jr/>

[2] <https://www.math.wisc.edu/staff/mcmillan-d-russell-jr/>

[3] <https://www.ams.org/tran/1971-158-02/S0002-9947-1971-0279788-5/>

https://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?fChrono=1&id=675

I love you Dad

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