Josephine Louise Miles was an American poet and literary critic; the first woman to be tenured in the English Department at the University of California, Berkeley. She wrote over a dozen books of poetry and several works of criticism. Born in Chicago in 1911, her family moved when she was young to Southern California. Due to a disabling arthritis, she was educated at home by tutors, but was able to graduate from Los Angeles High School in a class which included the composer John Cage. Miles attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where she earned a bachelor?s degree in English literature before moving to the University of California, Berkeley to pursue her doctorate. She received a Fellowship from the American Association of University Women in 1939. In 1964, she was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She remained in Berkeley for the rest of her life, receiving many highly coveted fellowships and awards until her death in May 1985. 

June 11th, 1911 in Chicago  /  Died:   May 12th, 1985