Senator Dr. Yvonne B. Miller Walking in Her Footsteps Scholarship

Senator Yvonne Bond Miller made headlines as the first African American woman to be elected to the Commonwealth of Virginia House of Delegates in 1983 – serving two terms from 1984–88. In 1987, she ran and was elected to her first four-year term in the Senate of Virginia. As the first African-American woman in Virginia to serve in each house, she was consistently re-elected to 5th State Senate District until her death on July 3, 2012. At the time of her death, she was the longest-serving woman in the Virginia Senate, ranking 4th in overall Senatorial seniority where she gained a seat on the budget-writing Finance Committee and later became the first woman to chair a Senate committee, gaining the chair of the Transportation Committee.
Senator Miller believed that women have special talents as problem-solvers and negotiators that make them good leaders. She encouraged all women to exercise their political rights by running for office or supporting female candidates.
Born on July 4, 1934 as Yvonne Bond in Edenton, North Carolina to John T. and Pency C. Bond, Senator Miller was the eldest child of thirteen children. She was raised in Norfolk and attended local public schools.
Senator Miller attended the Norfolk Division of Virginia State College (now Norfolk State University) for two years. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956 from the Virginia State College. While in college, she became a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Upon graduating from Virginia State, Senator Miller became an active financial member of Beta Theta Zeta Chapter in Norfolk, VA. Senator Miller later earned a Master of Arts degree from the Teachers College (Columbia University) in 1962 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1973.
A career educator, Senator Miller began teaching at Young’s Park Elementary School in Norfolk Public Schools. She later became a faculty member at Norfolk State as a professor and department head for the Early Childhood/Elementary Education where she retired as Professor Emeritus in 1999.
Beta Theta Zeta Chapter honors the legacy of Senator Yvonne B. Miller by awarding the Walking in Her Footsteps Scholarship to deserving young ladies in Norfolk, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake, VA.