Van Mueller, Michigan State University College of Education alumnus and nationally known expert on education finance, died on Mar. 8, 2012. He was born in 1929.
Mueller received his doctorate in Educational Administration from the college in 1964, and received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2008.
Mueller held many education and state government jobs. He was on the faculty at University of Minnesota from 1971-1997 and was the department chair of Educational Policy & Administration for 9 years. Previous to that, Mueller served as superintendent of the Ashley, Mich. and Ithaca, Mich. school districts.
Because of his wealth of knowledge in educational finance, Mueller co-founded the American Education Finance Association, and sat on the Board of Editors for the Journal of Education Finance, in which he published over 100 articles and chapters. Mueller also was a consultant to school districts in 10 states, and held a full-time assignment with the Minnesota Planning Agency, where he directed a series of school finance studies.
A memorial service will be held for Mueller at the University of Minnesota on March 25, and a graveside ceremony will be held in his hometown of Manistique, Mich. in June.
See the full obituary for more information.