Dr. Timothy Miller was honored with an Excellence in the Sciences Award from the Vietnam Veterans of America. An emeritus professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, he received the award during the organization's 17th biennial national convention in Springfield, Illinois, on July 25.

Miller, who served with the Army Special Forces in the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1966, co-founded UCLA Operation Mend, a pioneering partnership between UCLA Health, the United States military and the Department of Veterans Affairs which treats wounded post-911-era service members. He served as Operation Mend's chief surgeon from 2007 to 2012.

Miller was selected for the award based on his service to his country during the Vietnam War and for his time and expertise with Operation Mend helping veterans who have suffered severely disfiguring facial wounds in Iraq and Afghanistan. He and his colleagues have performed more than 230 reconstructive plastic surgeries for Operation Mend patients since the program's inception in 2007.

Former director of the American Board of Plastic Surgery and co-editor of the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Miller headed the division of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center from 1973 to 2006 and served as chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at UCLA from 2002 to 2011.